B^ural  life  ^urbep 


44 


^ortfjtoestern  ©l)to'' 


BR 

555 

.03 

P7 
1913 


DIRECTED  BY 

The  Department  of  Church  and  G)untry  Life 

BOARD  OF  HOME  MISSIONS  OF  THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 
IN  THE  U.  S.  A. 

Warren  H.  Wilson,  Director 
Ralph  A.  Felton,  Field  Director 

156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City 


BR 

555 

.03 

P7 

1913 

Presbyt< 

erian 

Church  in 

the 

U. 

.S.A. 

Board 

of  Home 

Ohio  rural 

li 

fe  survey. 

M  TVT  „  „  4-  I-  , 

, .  —  J 

v-  o  V  -:  „  1 1 

^^^'' 


X       Co  ur-tt-V      L'.'-^C- 


*'j^orti)tDCStcrn  ©bio" 


President  W.  O.  Thompson 
Ohio  Slate  University,  Columbus,  Ohio 

Chairman 

Warren  H.  Wilson,  Director 
Ralph  A.  Felton,  Field  Director 

Contributors 

Robert  B.  Wilson 
Clarence  A.  Neff 

Arthur  O.  Stockbridge,  Historian 

PRESBYTERIAN  DEPARTMENT  OF  CHURCH  AND 
COUNTRY  LIFE 

1  56  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City 


CONTENTS. 
Chapter  I. — Introduction:  page 

1.  Origin  of  the  Survey,  and  Ag^encies  Concerned 5 

2.  Purpose  of  the  Investigation 5 

3.  Method  of  the  Study 6 

Chapter  II. — The  Region  Surveyetl : 

1.  Area,   ( )mitted   Communities 7 

2.  Physical  I'eatures 7 

CiiAi'TER  III. — Economic  Conditions: 

1.  Natural  Resources,  Position  of  Agriculture 8 

2.  Size  of  Farms (S 

3.  Increase  in  Improved  Farm  Lands 10 

4.  Rise  in  the  Price  of  Land 10 

5.  Land  Speculation  and  Tenantry 11 

6.  Farm  Labor 13 

7.  Marketing 14 

<S.     Summary 14 

Chapter  IX. — Social  Conditions: 

1.  Population — 

(a)  Its  Distribution  and  Status 15 

(b)  Its  Origin  and  Compositon 17 

2.  Health  and  Vitality  of  the  People 17 

3.  Housing  Conditions   18 

4.  Means  of   Communication 19 

5.  Community  Leadership 19 

6.  The  Informal  Meetings  of  the  People 20 

7.  Community  (Gatherings   20 

8.  Family  Reunions    22 

9.  Community  Organizations    22 

10.  Recreation 24 

1 1.  IMoral  Conditions   25 

Chapter  \'. — Rural  Schools: 

1.  Reason  for  the  Study 27 

2.  Scope  of  the  Study 27 

3.  Material   L>(|ui])ment    27 

4.  Enrollment  and  Attendance 29 

5.  School   Session    30 

6.  The  Teaching  Force 32 

7.  The  School  as  a  Community  Center 33 

8.  Supervision 34 

9.  Centralization 35 

7 


Chapter  Yl. — Religious  Conditions  and  Activities:  page 

1.  Number  and  Distribution  of  the  Churches — 

( a)  As  to  Location 39 

( b)  As  to  Population 39 

2.  Church  Membership  and  Population 40 

3.  Classification  of  the  Church  Membershi]) 40 

4.  Status  of  the  Churches 42 

3.     Causes  of  Church  Decline  in  the  ( )pen  Country 42 

(a)  A  Decreasing  Rural  Population 42 

( b)  Inefficient  Leadership 42 

(c)  A  Non-Resident  Ministry 44 

(d)  The  Circuit  System 45 

(c)     Small-Sized  Churches 46 

(/)     Over-Churching 4(S 

( g)      Sectarianism 48 

(  h  )      Failure  to  Serve  the  Entire  Community 50 

6.  Material  Equipment  of  the  Churches 51 

7.  The  Churches  at  Work 52 

( a )  Worship .52 

( b )  Sunday  Schools 54 

( c)  Social  Activities 57 

8.  Church  Finances 59 

9.  The  Minister 63 

Chapter  \']l. — Conclusion  and  Recommendations 66 


MAP  OF  OHIO.     THE  COUNTIES  SURVEYED  ARE  INDICATED  BY  A  STAR. 

SHADED  SECTIONS  INDICATE  COUNTIES  DISCUSSED   IN 
THE   FOLLOWING   PAGES 


CHAPTER  I. 
INTRODUCTION. 

1.  Origin  of  the  Survey  and  Agencies  Concerned. 

Men  and  women  prominent  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  rural 
sections  of  the  State  of  Ohio  had  for  a  long  time  desired  to  come  to 
some  common  understanding  as  to  the  problems  which  each  one  had 
been  feeling  after  separately  and  alone.  This  long-cherished  wish 
came  to  fulfilment  in  January,  1912,  when  the  leaders  of  rural  Ohio 
met  in  Columbus  and  discussed  the  feasibility  of  making  a  state-wide 
investigation  of  conditions  in  the  small  villages  and  open  country  of 
the  State.  The  concrete  result  of  this  meeting  was  the  inauguration 
of  the  Ohio  Rural  Life  Survey.  An  Advisory  Council  of  forty  mem- 
bers, representing  twelve  religious  denominations  and  eighteen  educa- 
tional institutions  at  work  within  the  State,  was  appointed  to  supervise 
the  project.  This  Council  secured  the  Presbyterian  Department  of 
Church  and  Country  Life  to  undertake  the  actual  task  of  making  the 
desired  study;  and  under  the  directorship  of  Warren  H.  Wilson, 
Ph.  D.,  Superintendent  of  this  Department,  the  work  has  been  carried 
to  a  successful  completion.  A  total  of  twenty-eight  counties,  scattered 
all  over  the  State,  were  covered  by  the  operations  of  the  investigators, 
most  of  their  work  being  done  during  the  summers  of  1912  and  1913. 
This  pamphlet  deals  with  the  findings  of  the  Survey  in  four  of  these 
counties — Seneca,  Hancock,  Allen  and  Defiance — all  of  which  disclose 
conditions  that  are  fairly  representative  of  those  prevailing  through- 
out Northwestern  Ohio.  The  agencies  that  co-operated  with  the 
Presbyterian  Department  of  Church  and  Country  Life  in  making 
possible  the  survey  of  this  section  were  as  follows :  The  Home  Mission 
Department  of  the  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Ohio,  Central  Mennonite 
College,  the  Ministerial  Association  of  Blufifton,  Defiance  College,  the 
Ohio  State  Christian  Association,  and  the  Reformed  Church  of  Tiffin. 

2.  Purpose  o£  the  Investigation. 

The  problem  of  rural  development  is  a  many-sided  one,  having  its 
economic,  social,  moral,  and  educational  phases.  But,  at  bottom,  the 
problem  is  a  religious  one.  As  religion  is  a  force  to  stimulate  every 
phase  of  life  to  its  highest  activity,  so  the  country  church,  as  the  insti- 

5 


tutional  embodiment  of  religion  in  the  rural  community,  should  give 
the  impetus  for  every  movement  of  rural  advance.  Are  the  churches 
in  the  villages  and  open  country  of  Northwestern  Ohio  doing  this 
effectively  ?  This  pamphlet  seeks  to  give  an  answer.  We  will  deal 
with  such  topics  as  the  farmer's  work,  his  recreation,  his  home,  his 
school,  and  his  church.  A  correct  and  careful  treatment  of  all  of  these 
subjects  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  carrying  out  of  our  dominant 
purpose,  which  is,  to  give  the  rural  churches  of  Northwestern  Ohio  a 
vision  of  their  task,  and  to  help  them  in  the  doing  of  it. 

3.     Method  of  the  Study. 

Before  we  proceed,  just  a  word  as  to  the  method  followed  in  the 
field  investigations.  The  township  was  made  the  unit  of  study,  and 
was  called  a  "community."  An  investigator  would  spend  two  or  three 
days  in  each  township  or  community,  asking  specified  questions  of  the 
leaders  of  its  religious,  educational,  social,  and  political  institutions. 
The  written  record  of  these  interviews  were  made  on  uniform  blanks, 
and,  together  with  the  investigator's  personal  observations,  formed  the 
basis  for  his  report  upon  the  conditions  existing  in  the  community. 
The  investigators  were  carefully  selected,  being  either  young  men  of 
college  training  or  adults  of  seasoned  judgment. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  REGION  SURVEYED. 

1.  Area,  Omitted  Communities. 

Northwestern  Ohio,  must,  of  course,  remain  an  indefinite  quantity. 
But,  for  our  purpose,  it  may  be  said  to  include  at  least  fourteen  coun- 
ties covering  an  area  of  approximately  6,000  square  miles.  The  four 
counties  surveyed  comprise  1896  square  miles,  or  a  little  less  than 
one-third  of  the  total  area  of  the  district.  All  of  the  communities 
within  the  four  counties  were  studied  with  the  exception  of  the  fol- 
lowing towns  and  cities  whose  respective  populations  exceed  2,500 : 
Tififin,  Fostoria,  Findlay,  Lima,  Delphos,  Defiance,  and  Hicksville. 
These  places  are  large  enough  to  show  characteristics  different  from 
those  of  the  rural  districts.  In  drawing  our  conclusions  as  to  the  latter, 
however,  we  have  taken  into  consideration  the  effect  that  these  centers 
of  population  have  upon  the  surrounding  country.  The  total  number 
of  townships  in  the  four  counties  is  58.  The  omission  of  the  places 
named  above  necessitates  the  withdrawal  from  our  reckoning  of  four 
of  these  townships  or  communities,  leaving  a  total  of  54  as  the  basis 
for  our  present  study. 

2.  Physical  Features. 

Throughout  Northwestern  Ohio  the  surface  is  predominantly  level 
or  rolling  with  a  gentle  slope  towards  the  Lake  Erie  basin  on  the 
northeast.  The  district  is  watered  by  the  Maumee  and  Sandusky 
Rivers  with  their  tributaries.  Formerly,  a  portion  of  the  region  was 
swampy,  and  was  called  the  "Great  Black  Swamp."  The  draining  of 
this  low  and  wet  ground  is  one  of  the  notable  events  in  the  agricul- 
tural history  of  the  section. 


CHAPTER  III. 
ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS. 

1.  Natural  Resources,  Position  of  Agriculture. 

Oil  is  the  only  mineral  resource  of  the  section  that  has  greatly 
affected  the  welfare  of  its  people.  It  is  found  over  large  areas  in 
Allen  and  Hancock  Counties,  and  to  some  extent  in  Seneca  County; 
and  although  its  rate  of  flow  has  decreased  considerably  of  late  years, 
it  still  remains  a  very  important  source  of  income.  In  these  counties, 
building  stone  and  sand  are  found  in  sufficient  quantities  for  local 
needs.  Most  of  the  stone  is  crushed,  and  used  for  railroad  ballast  and 
the  building  of  roads.  Defiance  County  has  no  mineral  resource  of 
great  importance.    It  is  an  agricultural  county  almost  exclusively. 

And,  indeed,  in  all  of  the  counties  surveyed  agriculture  is  and  will 
continue  to  be  the  most  important  industry.  Both  the  contour  of  the 
land  and  the  character  of  the  soil  point  to  this.  The  extraction  of  oil 
from  the  rocks  beneath  the  surface  does  not,  in  the  places  where  it 
is  pursued,  materially  interfere  with  the  continued  cultivation  of  the 
top  soil.  General  farming  is  followed,  with  little  specialization  except 
in  the  matter  of  raising  and  fattening  live  stock.  Recently,  the  growing 
of  sugar  beets  has  been  introduced  very  extensively  throughout  the 
district,  and  has  proved  quite  profitable. 

2.  Size  of  Farms. 

The  average  size  of  a  farm  throughout  the  section  was,  in  1910,  93.2 
acres;  and  in  1900,  92.7  acres.     The  comparison  here  would  seem  to 


EVENING   ON    THE    FARM 


indicate  a  slight  tendency  towards  larger  sized  farms.  This  tendency 
has  registered  itself  in  an  increase  in  the  number  of  farms  of  medium 
acreage  (50  to  174A),  and  a  proportionate  decrease  in  the  number 
that  are  either  under  50  acres  or  over  174  acres.  This  fact  can  be 
ascertained  by  a  glance  at  the  next  table,  which  compares  the  number 
of  farms  for  1900,  classified  in  groups  according  to  size,  with  the  same 
for  1910,  and  shows  the  percentages  of  proportion  and  of  increase  or 
decrease  in  each  case.  The  table  has  been  compiled  from  the  United 
States  Census  returns,  and  covers  all  the  countries  within  the  purview 
of  this  report. 


Total   number   of   farms 

Average  size  of  farm  (acres) 
No.  under        -     3  acres.  . . . 


No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 


3-     9  acres. 

10-  19  acres. 

20-  49  acres. 

50-  99  acres. 
100-174  acres. 
175-259  acres. 
260-499  acres. 
500-999  acres. 


No.  1,000  acres  or  over. 


In 
1900 

12,234 

92.7 

115 

431 

459 

2,136 

4,501 

3,465 

848 

262 

17 

0 


%  of 
total 
No. 


0.9 

3.5 

3.8 

17.5 

36.8 

28.3 

6.9 

2.2 

0.1 

0.0 


In 
1910 

12,246 

93.2 

17 

578 

473 

1,850 

4,573 

3,712 

836 

192 

13 

2 


%  of 
total 

No. 


0.13 

4.71 

3.9 

15.1 

37.34 

30.31 

6.8 

1.6 

0.1 

0.01 


%  of 
In- 
crease 


0.09 
0.5 


1.5 
7.1 


%of 
De- 
crease 


85.2 


13.3 


1.4 
36.4 
30.7 


The  drift  towards  medium-sized   farms  is  more  clearly  shown   in 
the  following  condensed  tabulation : 


1900 

1910 

Percentage  of  farms,      0-  49  acres 

25.7 

65.1 

9.2 

23.84 

Percentage  of  farms,    50-174  acres 

67.65 

Percentage  of  farms,  175  acres  or  over 

8.51 

The  group  of  farms  ranging  from  50  to  174  acres  is  the  only  one 
of  the  three  that  has  increased  during  the  decade;  both  of  the  other 
two  groups  show  a  decrease.  This  growth  in  the  number  of  what 
we  have  called  medium-sized  farms  is  an  encouraging  economic  fact 
about  the  northwestern  section  of  the  State.  Under-sized  farms,  as  a 
rule,  do  not  yield  sufficient  income  to  enable  the  farmer  to  have  a  sur- 
plus above  living  expenses  for  the  support  of  the  church  and  com- 
munity improvements,  while  over-sized  farms,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
too  extensive,  in  view  of  the  present  scarcity  of  farm  labor,  to  be 
worked  with  profit.  In  most  cases,  the  economic  advantage  lies  with 
the  farmer  who  has  a  medium-sized  farm.  Moreover,  the  country 
church  usually  finds  in  him  its  most  steady  and  most  liberal  supporter. 

9 


The  increase  of  hi.s  kind  in  the  connties  surveyed  should  be  a  source 
of  encouragement  to  the  churches  within  their  l)Ounds. 

3.     Increase  in  Improved  Farm  Lands. 

Another  marked  characteristic  of  Northwestern  Ohio  is  the  increase 
during  the  last  decade  in  the  acreage  of  improved  farm  lands.  In  the 
four  counties  surveyed,  according  to  the  returns  of  the  United  States 
Census,  the  amount  of  improved  farm  lands  increased  6.3%  during 
the  period  from  1900  to  1910,  a  gain  of  one  acre  in  every  fifteen  of 
their  arable  lands,  or  of  an  area  of  improved  land  equal  to  more  than 
one-sixth  that  of  the  largest  of  the  four  counties.  This  increase  has 
been  a  fact  in  all  of  the  counties  covered  by  this  report.  The  figures 
for  each  county  are  here  given  in  the  accompanying  table : 


Approx.  land  area         acres 
Imp.  land  in  farms,  1900  " 
Imp.  land  in  farms,  1910   " 
Per  cent,  of  increase. 


Allen 

Defiance 

Hancock 

Seneca 

259,840 

196,465 

203,222 

3.4 

259,200 

176,546 

190,187 

7.7 

342,400 

258,375 

268,581 

3.9 

352,000 

254,534  i 

280,502 

10.2 

All  four 
counties 

1,213,440 
885,920 
942,492 
6.3 


It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  largest  percentages  of  increase  are 
in  Defiance  and  Seneca  Counties,  where  the  extraction  of  oil  is  either 
non-existent  or  competes  with  agriculture  to  a  far  less  degree,  than 
in  Allen  and  Hancock  Counties. 

4.     Rise  of  the  Price  o£  Land. 

This  bringing  of  more  arable  land  into  profitable  use  indicates  a 
rising  demand  which  should  register  itself  in  an  increase  in  the  price 
of  land  throughout  the  section.  That  such  is  the  case  to  a  marked 
degree  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  in  the  four  counties  considered 
together  the  price  of  land  has  advanced  86.8%  during  the  decade  from 
1900  to  1910.  The  following  table,  compiled  from  the  United  States 
Census,  compares  for  the  counties,  taken  both  severally  and  collec- 
tively, the  average  price  of  land  in  1900  with  the  same  in  1910,  and 
shows  in  each  case  the  per  cent,  of  increase. 


Counties 

Avg.   Price  of 

Land  Per  Acre 

1900 

$38.39 
32.78 
40.72 
42.45 

Avg.  Price  of 

Land  Per  Acre 

1910 

$76.28 
65.40 
78.98 
67.79 

Per  Cent. 

of 
Increase 

Allen    

98.6 

Defiance 

99.5 

Hancock 

93.9 

Seneca  

59.6 

All  four  counties. 

$38.59 

$72.11 

86.8 

10 


Land  Becoming  a  Luxur\^ 


In  1900 
In  19/0 


/ 


38.sq  h 


er  acre 


7a. II  |, 


er  acre 


Four  counties  in 
Worth\westery\    0K«o 


O  b.  0%  increase 


Oi>*»o  nurall  Life  Ju 


rue^ 


What  are  the  causes  of  this  phenomenal  rise  in  the  price  of  land? 
Doubtless,  they  are  many.  Intelligent  farming  and  a  wise  care  to 
conserve  and  increase  the  fertility  of  the  soil  has  something  to  do  with 
it.  Speaking  generally,  the  farms  throughout  the  section  are  well  cared 
for.  The  presence  in  the  population  of  large  numbers  of  "Pennsyl- 
vania Dutch"  and  Mennonites,  with  their  fine  enthusiasm  for  country 
life  and  their  enviable  agricultural  traditions,  argues  for  such  a  con- 
dition. The  methods  employed  in  tilling  the  soil  are  as  a  rule  up  to 
date.  Underdraining  with  tile  is  recognized  as  a  necessity  for  the  best 
results  in  such  a  level  country,  and  is  almost  universally  practiced. 
Rotation  of  crops  is  followed  everywhere.  The  specialization  in  animal 
husbandry,  particularly  in  Allen,  Hancock  and  Seneca  Counties,  fur- 
nishes an  abundance  of  natural  manure  for  the  enrichment  of  the  soil. 
Commercial  fertilizer  is  used  with  good  judgment.  All  of  these  fac- 
tors, and  many  more,  which  tend  to  increase  the  productivity  of  the 
land,  tend  also  to  raise  its  selling  price.  But  do  they  afford  an  adequate 
explanation? 

Better  prices  for  farm  products  must  surely  be  considered  as  a 
factor  in  the  problem.  In  the  case  of  live-stock,  the  four  counties  have 
enjoyed  an  87.8%  increase  in  the  value  of  stock  sold  in  1909  as  over 
against  the  value  of  that  sold  in  1899.  Larger  returns  from  the  land 
certainly  raises  the  demand  for  it,  and  thus  advances  its  price. 

5.     Land  Speculation  and  Tenantry. 

But  no  satisfactory  reason  can  be  given  for  the  great  increase  in  the 
price  of  land  throughout  the  section  without  including  the  factor  of 

11 


speculation.  The  tendency  to  speculate  in  land  has  been  furthered 
by  the  better  prices  for  farm  products,  but  especially  by  the  exploita- 
tion of  the  oil  fields.  The  signs  of  growing  speculation  in  land  are, 
on  the  one  hand,  an  increasing  number  of  retired  farmers,  and  on 
the  other  hand,  an  increasing  number  of  farms  operated  by  tenants. 
Both  of  these  signs  reveal  themselves  in  Northwestern  Ohio. 

The  farmers  receive  a  royalty  of  one-sixth  the  current  market  value 
of  the  crude  petroleum  which  is  pumped  from  wells  drilled  upon  their 
land.  The  wealth  thus  acquired  is  making  it  possible  for  many 
farmers,  whose  property  chances  to  be  within  the  districts  where  oil 
is  found,  to  retire  and  to  rent  their  farms  to  tenants.  Some  of  these 
retired  farmers  continue  to  live  upon  the  land  which  they  once  tilled, 
but  for  the  most  part  they  move  "to  town  where  the  educational 
advantages  are  greater  and  the  social  attractions  more  alluring.  The 
towns  and  cities  of  the  section,  especially  Lima  and  Findlay,  have  a 
large  number  of  this  class  in  their  populations.  These  retired  farmers 
no  longer  regard  their  farms  as  places  for  a  home  but  as  mere  means 
for  bringing  them  a  money  income.  They  have  become  speculators  in 
land. 

The  obverse  side  of  a  larger  number  of  retired  farmers  is  a  greater 
number  of  farms  operated  by  tenants.  In  the  four  counties  surveyed, 
there  were  in  1910,  according  to  the  United  States  Census,  a  total  of 
12,246  farms.  Of  these,  8,016  or  65.6%  were  tilled  by  their  owners, 
4,121  or  33.6%  by  tenants,  and  a  negligible  number,  representing  0.8%, 
by  managers.  One  farm  in  every  three  was  being  worked  by  a  man 
who  did  not  own  the  soil.    What  was  the  condition  in  1900?     In  that 

lenantry      Orowing 

iCjoo  -19/0 


&.  If  %  decrease 
In  number 
Oh*  rated   b\j 
cwners. 


15.^%  increase  in  number  cf 
farms  operated  1)^  tenants 


Four  counties   in 
nIortK western    Ohio 


Ohio  Hural  Life  o 


orwev 


12 


year,  out  of  the  total  number  of  12.234  farms,  8,565  or  70%  were 
operated  by  their  owners,  3,571  or  29.4%  by  tenants,  and  0.6%  by 
managers.  The  proportion  of  farms  operated  by  tenants  has  increased 
during  the  ten-year  period  by  4.2%.  During  the  same  decade,  the  total 
number  of  farms  worked  by  tenants  has  increased  15.4%,  whereas  the 
number  of  farms  tilled  by  their  owners  has  decreased  6.4%.  Evi- 
dently, tenantry  is  growing  throughout  the  four  counties.  The  per- 
centages, showing  the  ratio  between  ownership  and  tenantry  in  the 
separate  counties  for  both  1900  and  1910,  are  given  in  the  following 
table : 


Counties 

%  of  farms 

operated  by 

owners  in  1900 

%  of  farms 

operated  by 

owners  in   1910 

%  of  farms 

operated  by 

tenants  in  1900 

%  of  farms 

operated  by 

tenants  in  1910 

Allen  

73.1 

74.7 
67.7 
65.7 

69.6 
71.9 

61.1 
60.9 

25.5 
24.6 
31.5 
33.8 

29.6 

Defiance  

Hancock  

Seneca  

All  four 
Counties   .. 

27.6 
37.4 
38.3 

70.0 

65.6 

29.4 

33.6 

Tenantry  lieed  not  be  a  curse  to  agriculture  and  to  country  life,  but 
under  the  system  of  land  tenure  prevalent  throughout  most  of  the 
United  States  it  usually  is.  In  the  section  covered  by  this  report,  the 
average  length  of  time  that  a  tenant  stays  upon  the  same  farm  is  two 
and  one-half  years.  This  means,  not  only  frequent  removals,  but  also 
the  constant  effort  on  the  part  of  the  tenants  to  take  from  the  soil 
as  much  as  possible  while  giving  back  to  it  as  little  as  possible.  Such 
a  process,  if  continued,  must  result  in  soil  impoverishment  and  human 
deterioration. 

Very  few  of  the  renters  succeed  in  acquiring  farms  of  their  own. 
For  the  most  part,  they  remain  a  floating,  discontented  element  in  the 
population.  They  are  the  marginal  members  of  the  community,  and 
their  increasing  number  in  Northwestern  Ohio  constitutes,  not  only  a 
serious  agricultural  question,  but  a  more  serious  social  and  religious 
problem. 

6.     Farm  Labor. 

Another  marginal  member  of  the  community  is  the  employed  farm- 
hand. He  is  rather  scarce  throughout  Northwestern  Ohio.  His  usual 
wage  is  about  $25  a  month  with  board  and  lodging.  Reckoning  the 
latter  at  $5  a  week,  his  total  income  amounts  to  nearly  $50  a  month. 
The  oil  pumpers  and  roustabouts  get  an  average  salary  of  $65  per 
month.  Those  employed  in  other  nearby  industries  receive  on  the 
average  more  than  $50  per  month.     The  remuneration  for  farm  labor 

13 


is  not  high  enough  to  hold  the  men  of  ambitious  spirit.  If  the  country 
churches  can  give  to  the  farm-hand  more  than  a  money  interest  in  the 
open  country,  they  may  succeed  in  holding  him  to  the  farm  and  in 
helping  him  to  better  his  status  among  his  neighbors. 

7.  Marketing.  .' 
The  farmers  throughout  the  section  have  easy  and  ready  access  to 

good  markets  for  their  stock  and  grain.  Good  roads  and  abundant 
transportation  facilities,  both  steam  and  electric,  make  the  shipment  of 
farm  products  an  easy  matter. 

But  as  yet  the  farmers  of  Northwestern  Ohio  have  not  learned  to 
make  use  of  their  advantages  in  this  respect  in  the  most  economic  way. 
In  the  matter  of  buying  and  selling,  each  farmer  acts  for  himself.  The 
idea  of  co-operation  in  the  farming  business  has  not  as  yet  conquered 
over  the  various  prejudices  that  in  this  section  still  hold  men  apart. 
The  principle,  that  a  good  price  gained  for  all  through  co-operation 
is  in  the  long  run  the  best  price  for  each,  has  not  as  yet  won  many 
converts.  Our  investigators  found  but  one  lone  prophet  of  the  better 
day,  a  co-operative  grain  elevator  in  Defiance  County.  Let  us  hope 
that  this  enterprise  is  the  beginning  of  a  movement  that  in  course  of 
time  will  substitute  collective  for  individual  bargaining  throughout 
the  section. 

8.  Summary. 

Our  picture  of  the  economic  situation  in  the  rural  districts  of  North- 
western Ohio  has  been,  on  the  whole,  an  optimistic  one.  A  fertile 
soil,  divided  for  the  most  part  into  medium  sized  farms,  and  worked 
by  intelligent  men  who  are  using  scientific  methods  in  their  care  of 
the  land — surely,  these  are  the  lines  of  a  pleasing  background.  But 
in  the  foreground,  there  are  some  blotches.  In  the  first  place,  the 
rising  price  of  land,  due  in  some  measure  to  speculation,  is  giving  rise 
to  two  related  abuses.  On  the  one  hand,  it  makes  it  very  hard  for 
any  one  to  become  the  owner  of  a  farm  except  through  inheritance 
or  by  the  aid  of  outside  capital  at  high  rates  of  interest.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  makes  it  comparatively  easy  for  one  to  become  the 
renter  of  a  farm,  and  thus  assist  the  growth  of  tenantry,  which  is 
increasing  throughout  the  section,  and  threatening  the  maintenance  of 
soil  fertility.  In  the  second  place,  the  presence  of  mutual  distrust 
keeps  the  farmers  from  coming  together  into  co-operative  associations 
for  buying  and  selling.  To  suggest  the  antidotes  for  these  short- 
comings is  easy ;  to  remove  them  is  harder.  But  the  task  will  be 
lighter  if  the  country  churches  of  the  section  see  it  as  a  religious  task, 
willed  of  God,  and  hence  sure  of  accomplishment. 

14 


CHAPTER  IV. 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS. 
1.     Population. 

(a)  Its  distribution  and  status.  The  four  counties,  according  to 
the  United  States  Census  for  1910,  contain  161,359  people.  Of  these, 
84,619,  or  52.6%,  are  classified  as  rural,  that  is,  as  living  on  farms  or 
in  villages  of  less  than  2,500  people.  In  1900,  the  population  of  the 
four  counties  was  157,519,  of  which  89,596,  or  56.9%,  were  rural.  In 
1890,  the  number  of  people  in  the  same  four  counties  was  149,845, 
of  which  87,415,  or  58.4%,  were  put  in  the  rural  column.  These 
figures  show  that,  whereas  the  total  population  of  the  area  surveyed 
has  increased  (7.6%)  during  the  two  decades  from  1890  to  1910,  the 
proportion  of  people  living  in  the  country  has,  during  the  same  period, 
steadily  decreased.  Considering  the  four  counties  together,  it  is 
evident  from  the  foregoing  analysis  that  the  general  drift  of  the  popu- 
lation is  toward  the  cities.  The  district  as  a  whole  is  less  rural  now 
than  formerly.  The  farms  have  not  been  able  to  stand  the  competition 
of  the  factories  and  the  stores  bidding  for  the  wage-earning  class. 

Our  study,  however,  becomes  more  instructive  and  more  true  to 
existing  conditions,  if  we  examine  the  proportion  of  the  population 
living  in  rural  communities  by  counties,  as  well  as  in  the  aggregate. 
This  is  done  summarily  in  the  following  table,  the  figures  for  which 
have  been  taken  from  the  United  States  Census : 


1890 

1900 

1910 

County 

Total 
Pop. 

Rural 

% 

of 

Total 

1 
Total 
Pop.  Rural 

% 

of 

Total 

Total 
Pop.  Rural 

% 

of 

Total 

Allen    

Defiance  

Hancock 

Seneca    

40,644  22,232 
25,769  18.075 
42,563  22,825 
40,869  24,183 

55.0 
70.2 
53.7 
59.2 

47,976  23,964    49.9 
26,387  18.808    61.7 
41,993  23,040,    54.9 
41,163  23,784    57.8 

56,580' 23,516 
24,498  17,171 
37,860  21,457 
42,421  22,475 

41.6 
70.1 
56.7 
53.0 

All  Four 

Counties    . .  . 

149,845  87,415 

]             1 
58.4  1157,519189,596    56.9 

161,359  84,619 

52.6 

A  glance  at  the  table  shows  that  the  counties  dififer  quite  markedly 
from  one  another  in  the  conditions  they  severally  present.  Allen 
County  has  suffered  the  greatest  decline  in  the  proportion  of  its  people 
who  live  in  the  country,  passing  from  55.0%  in  1890  to  41.6%  in  1910. 
This  decline  has  been  due  to  the  phenomenal  growth  of  Lima,  the 
principal  city  of  the  county,  which  has  increased  its  population  by 

15 


90.9%  in  the  twenty  years  from  1890  to  1910.  Seneca  County  like- 
wise shows  the  effect  of  an  increase  (20.2%)  in  the  population  of  its 
urban  centers  (Tiffin  and  Fostoria)  by  registering  a  steady  decline  in 
the  proportion  of  its  rural  population,  falHng  in  this  respect  from 
59.2%  in  1890  to  53%  in  1910.  Defiance  County  reveals  a  fluctuating 
condition,  the  proportion  of  its  rural  population  falling  from  70.2% 
to  61.7%  during  the  years  from  1890  to  1900,  and  then  rising  from 
the  latter  percentage  to  70.1%  in  1910.  Hancock  County,  however,  is 
becoming  more  rural.  The  tendency  in  this  direction  has  been  con- 
stant. In  1890,  the  proportion  of  its  rural  population  was  53.7%  ;  in 
1900,  54.9%  ;  in  1910,  56.7%".  This  proportionate  increase  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  a  16.8%  decrease  for  the  twenty-year  period  from  1890 
to  1910  in  the  population  of  the  urban  centers  of  the  county  outbalances 
a  5.9%  decrease  in  the  total  population  of  its  rural  districts  for  the 
same  period. 

The  percentages  of  increase  or  decrease  in  both  the  urban  and  the 
rural  population  of  the  four  counties,  considered  both  severally  and 
together,  for  both  the  twenty-year  period  from  1890  to  1910  and  the 
decade  from  1900  to  1910,  are  given  in  the  accompanying  table: 


County 

Per  Cent,  of  Increase 
1890-1910 

Per  Cent,  of  Increase 
1900-1910 

Total 

Urban 

Rural 

Total 

Urban 

Rural 

Allen    

39.2 

—4.9 

—11.0 

z:i 

7.6 

80.5 

4.7 

—16.8 

19.5 

22.9 

5.3 
-5.0 
-5.9 
—7.0 
—3.1 

17.9 

—7.2 

—9.8 

3.1 

2.4 

37.7 
—33 

—19 

Defiance 

_R7 

Hancock    

Seneca     

—13.5  '■       —6.9 
14  8          —5  5 

All    four   counties.. 

11.6 

-5.5 

I  he     I  own -ware/    JJnft 


3.1% 

diccrease 

in  ropj\ 


X%.\%  increase   in    urban  jnof^olation 


Four  counties    in 
Northwestern   OUo 


Uhio  hural  Life  burvevj 


16 


The  schedule  shows  that  the  number  of  people  in  the  rural  districts 
of  Northwestern  Ohio  is  decreasing.  Every  one  of  the  four  counties 
surveyed  registers  a  loss  in  its  rural  population  for  the  decade  from 
1900  to  1910,  and  every  one  with  the  exception  of  Allen  County  reveals 
the  same  for  the  two  decades  from  1890  to  1910.  Considering  the 
four  counties  together,  the  decline  in  the  number  of  people  living  in 
the  country  during  the  last  decade  amounts  to  5.5%,  ranging  from 
1.9%  in  Allen  County  to  8.7%  in  Defiance  County.  For  the  twenty- 
year  period  from  1890  to  1900,  the  decrease  amounts  to  3.1%.  In 
Defiance  and  Hancock  Counties  the  rural  decline  is  a  part  of  a  general 
decline  in  the  total  population ;  but  in  Allen  and  Seneca  Counties  it  is 
accompanied  by  an  increase  in  the  total  population,  due  to  the  growth 
of  the  cities  within  their  borders. 

(b)  Its  origin  and  composition.  The  origin  of  the  population  in 
these  counties  is  widely  distributed.  The  early  settlers  came  princi- 
pally from  Eastern  Ohio  and  the  older  communities  east  of  the  moun- 
tains. Pennsylvania  sent  the  largest  proportion.  The  section  shared 
very  richly  in  the  German  migration  of  the  thirties.  A  large  number 
of  Welsh  have  settled  in  Allen  County.  According  to  the  United  States 
Census,  the  present  population  of  the  section  is  almost  exclusively  of 
native  birth.  This  fact  is  shown  by  the  table  below,  the  figures  for 
which  have  been  taken  from  the  Census  for  1910: 


County 

Native 

born 

White 

% 

to  total 

Pop. 

Foreign 
born 
White 

% 

to  total 

Pop. 

Negro 

% 

to  total 

Pop. 

Allen     

53,149 
23,066 
36,457 
39,867 
152,539 

94.0 
94.1 
96.3 
94.0 
94.5 

2,395 
1,409 
1,152 
2,394 
7,350 

4.2 
5.8 
3.0 
5.6 
4.6 

1,030 

23 

249 

157 

1,459 

18 

Defiance   

0  1 

Hancock     

07 

Seneca    

0.4 

All  four  counties 

0.9 

The  large  proportion  (94.5%)  of  native  born  inhabitants  indicates 
a  people  thoroughly  American  in  its  ideals  and  sentiments. 

2.     Health  and  Vitality  o£  the  People. 

A  primary  condition  of  the  social  welfare  of  any  population  is  its 
physical  soundness.  The  death  rates  for  various  diseases  proving  fatal 
in  any  one  year  may  be  taken  as  rough  indices  of  the  healthfulness  of 
a  people's  place  of  residence.  We  enumerate  in  the  next  table  the 
principal  causes  of  death  in  the  four  counties  covered  by  this  report, 
with  the  number  of  deaths  due  to  each  cause  during  the  year  1911. 
classified  according  to  their  occurrence  in  cities  or  in  rural  districts, 
together  with  the  death  rates  per  1,000  in  both  city  and  country.    The 

17 


table  has  been  compiled  from  the  1911  report  of  the  State  Bureau  of 
Vital  Statistics. 


Total  number  of 
deaths  

Total  number  in 
cities* 

Total  number  in 
country 

Per  cent,  of  deaths 
in  country  to 
grand  total   .... 

Death  rates  per 
1,000  in  coun- 
try     

Death  rates  per 
1,000  in  cities*.. 


All 
Causes 

Apo- 
plexy 

Bright's 
Disease 

Cancer 

1,943 

164 

80 

132 

1,007 

81 

36 

71 

936 

83 

44 

61 

48.1 

50.6 

55.0 

46.2 

11.0 

0.98 

0.5 

0.72 

13.1 

1.05 

0.46 

0.92 

Heart 


Old  Age 


234        23 

131 

103        15 


44.0 


65.2 


1.21     0.17 
1.70  I  0.10 


Pneu- 
monia 

Tuber, 
culosis 

Typhoid 
Fever 

128 

233 

35 

53 

125 

19 

75 

108 

16 

58.5 

46.3 

45.7 

0.88 

1.27 

0.18 

0.69 

1.62 

0.24 

Violence 


158 
87 
71 

44.9 

0.83 
1.13 


*  The  cities  included  are   Lima,  Defiance,  Findlay,  Fostoria  and  Tiffin. 

Tuberculosis,  with  a  death  rate  in  the  rural  districts  of  1.27,  and 
heart  disease,  with  a  rate  in  the  same  sections  of  1.21,  appear  to  be 
the  most  prevalent  causes  of  death.  Apoplexy,  pneumonia,  violence, 
cancer,  and  Bright's  Disease  come  next  throughout  the  country  dis- 
tricts in  the  order  of  their  fatal  results.  The  death  rate  from  typhoid 
fever  is  not  high.  The  people  are  awake  to  the  ravages  of  tuberculosis. 
Five  neighboring  counties  co-operate  in  supporting  at  Lima,  Allen 
County,  a  thoroughly  modern  sanitarium  for  the  treatment  of  tubercu- 
losis patients. 

The  death  rate  of  13.1  for  the  cities  is  slightly  higher,  and  the  rate 
of  11.0  for  the  rural  districts  is  lower  than  the  rate  for  the  entire  State, 
which  in  the  same  year  was  13.09.  These  facts  argue  for  the  preva- 
lence of  a  higher  standard  of  vitality  in  the  latter.  Pneumonia  and 
Bright's  Disease  are  the  only  ailments  of  those  mentioned  in  the  pre- 
ceding table  that  show  a  higher  death  rate  for  the  country  than  for 
the  cities  of  the  section.  Old  age,  to  be  sure,  registers  a  higher  rate 
for  the  former  than  for  the  latter.  This  fact,  however,  increases  the 
evidence  for  a  higher  vitality  in  the  country  districts,  as  it  shows  that 
in  the  country  more  people  live  to  an  old  age  than  in  the  cities. 

In  general,  our  conclusion  as  to  the  health  conditions  in  the  section 
under  review  is  that  they  disclose  nothing  very  phenomenal,  but  are 
about  the  same  as  the  average  for  the  entire  State. 


3.     Housing  Conditions. 

One  of  the  prime  conditions  of  robust  health  is  good  housing.    That 

18 


this  condition  is  met  in  most  of  the  rural  homes  of  Northwestern  Ohio, 
we  can  assert  with  a  fair  degree  of  confidence.  No  very  intensive 
study  of  housing  conditions  was  made,  but  the  general  observations 
of  our  investigators  would  seem  to  allow  us  to  venture  the  above  state- 
ment. Several  cases  of  poor  sanitation  and  inadequate  protection 
against  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather  were  indeed  found,  and  the 
greater  prevalence  of  pneumonia  in  the  rural  districts  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  there  is  room  for  improvement.  But,  as  a  rule,  the  provi- 
dent farmers  of  the  section  take  good  care  for  the  housing  of  their 
families.  While  the  majority  have  had  little  or  no  plumbing  done,  yet 
the  number  of  those  who  are  installing  the  modern  improvements  and 
conveniences  (i.  e.  bath  rooms,  pressure  tanks,  furnaces,  gasoline  and 
acetylene  lights,  dynamos,  gasoline  engines  for  running  churns,  wash- 
ing machines,  cream  separator,  etc.)  is  increasing.  A  majority  of  the 
houses  are  well  painted.  A  care  is  had  in  most  cases  for  the  beautify- 
ing of  the  home  surroundings.  The  visitor  sees  a  goodly  number  of 
well-kept  lawns  and  beautiful  beds  of 'flowers.  In  general,  the  aspect 
of  the  country  shows  the  efifect  of  contact  with  the  outside  world  and 
of  a  growing  freedom  from  isolation. 

4.  Means  of  Communication. 

The  freedom  from  isolation,  just  mentioned  as  a  characteristic  of 
country  life  in  Northwestern  Ohio,  has  been  brought  about  by  the 
multiplication  of  means  of  communication.  The  level  topography  of 
the  region  is  especially  favorable  for  good  road  construction.  Most 
of  the  main  roads  are  piked  with  gravel  or  crushed  stone,  and  the  work 
of  improving  the  roads  is  being  completed  in  several  of  the  townships 
by  piking  a  given  number  of  miles  every  year. 

Fifteen  trunk  lines  of  steam  railroads  traverse  Northwestern  Ohio. 
In  addition,  the  section  is  well  supplied  with  interurban  electric  lines. 
Telephones  are  found  in  the  majority  of  the  farm  houses.  They  are 
not,  however,  an  unmixed  blessing.  While,  on  the  one  hand,  they 
afford  many  conveniences  and  facilitate  business,  they  have,  on  the 
other  hand,  practically  done  away  with  household  visiting,  which 
formerly  was  such  a  fine  expression  of  the  social  unity  of  a  neighbor- 
hood. 

5.  Community  Leadership. 

In  forty  out  of  the  fifty-four  communities  studied,  there  could  not  be 
found  any  man  or  institution  standing  out  conspicuously  as  a  directing 
force.     The  church  rebukes  most  cases  of  individual  wrongdoing,  but 

19 


because  of  its  very  common  lack  of  a  resident  ministry  is  seldom 
effective  in  leading  in  the  improvement  of  the  community.  The  rural 
school,  likewise,  because  of  the  constant  changes  in  its  teaching  force, 
is  prevented  from  assisting  as  largely  as  it  otherwise  might  in  pro- 
moting the  social  welfare  of  the  people.  Our  investigators,  in  their 
search  for  individual  men  and  women  who  stood  out  as  leaders  of 
public  opinion  in  their  respective  communities  were  in  most  cases  met 
with  such  replies  as:  "Couldn't  single  any  out,"  or  "About  all  alike." 
Such  a  democracy,  while  it  is  both  very  American  and  very  commend- 
able, is  sure  to  become  deadening  in  its  influence  unless  it  is  given 
direction  by  competent  leaders.  The  reason  why  this  sort  of  leader- 
ship is  so  rare  in  the  section  studied  is  that  the  ablest  of  the  farmers 
do  not  fully  realize  that  they  need  to  work  together  under  the  guidance 
of  trusted  leaders.  There  is  an  absence  of  a  common  purpose.  Each 
farmer  is  for  himself.  This  individualistic  democracy,  which  is  the 
very  praiseworthy  product  of  the  early  pioneer  days  in  which  the 
farmer  had  to  struggle  alone  against  the  obstacles  of  nature,  must 
however,  under  the  new  conditions  of  the  present  day,  give  place  to  a 
co-operative  democracy  in  which  all  the  farmers  will  work  together 
under  approved  and  tested  leaders  for  ends  and  ideals  held  in  common 
by  all. 

6.  The  Informal  Meetings  of  the  People. 

The  prevailing  mutual  distrust  and  narrow  individualism,  which 
hinders  the  progress  of  this  co-operative  democracy,  could  be  more 
easily  overcome  if  there  could  be  more  intermingling  among  the  people 
at  friendly  gatherings.  But,  as  yet,  no  institution  in  all  the  district 
studied  has  provided  suitable  places  for  the  informal  meetings  of  the 
rural  people.  Neither  the  school  nor  the  church  of  any  village  in  the 
four  counties  studied  has  as  yet  set  apart  and  furnished  a  rest  room 
for  the  farmer  and  his  wife,  or  a  suitable  social  place  for  the  farmer's 
boys  and  girls.  And  yet  these  churches  have  been  observing  for  gen- 
erations that  a  majority  of  the  farmers  come  to  town  on  Saturday,  and 
oftentimes  bring  their  families  with  them.  The  saloons,  poolrooms, 
and  questionable  picture  shows  have  watched  the  same  thing,  but  only 
to  do  something  for  their  own  advantage.  Should  the  village  churches 
be  any  less  wide-awake  in  their  service  for  the  advantage  of  others? 

7.  Community  Gatherings. 

Another  way  in  which  the  churches  and  schools  might  serve  more 
adequately  the  social  needs  of  the  rural  population  of  Northwestern 
Ohio  is  by  providing  a  larger  number  of  gatherings  where  all  the 

20 


21 


neighborhood  can  meet  to  develop  a  community,  co-operative  spirit. 
In  this  connection,  we  desire  to  commend  what  is  already  being  done 
by  various  agencies,  especially  by  the  rural  churches  through  their 
Sunday  Schools.  In  a  gratifying  number  of  instances,  the  annual 
Sunday  School  picnic  has  been  broadened  in  its  scope  until  it  has 
become  an  affair  for  the  whole  community.  Our  investigators  noted 
at  least  ten  cases  in  the  four  counties  where  it  is  the  custom  for  all 
the  Sunday  Schools  in  a  township  to  unite  in  an  annual  picnic  for  the 
entire  township.  This  is  very  encouraging.  The  Farmers'  Institutes, 
which  are  of  frequent  occurrence  throughout  the  four  counties,  do  a 
good  social  service  in  bringing  the  farmers  of  a  community  into  a  closer 
acquaintance  with  one  another.  Both  Defiance  and  Seneca  Counties 
have  an  annual  Chautauqua  within  their  bounds.  Other  community 
gatherings  met  with  more  or  less  occasionally  in  the  counties  surveyed 
are  county  fairs,  pioneer  picnics,  old  settlers'  reunions,  school  com- 
mencements, and  business  men's  picnics.  All  of  these  assemblies  of 
the  rural  people  lead  them  to  know  each  other  better.  Mutual  knowl- 
edge of  each  other  is  an  absolute  necessity  for  co-operation.  These 
community  gatherings  give  the  farmers  a  chance  to  become  acquainted 
with  one  another,  and  thus  give  impetus  to  the  spirit  of  unity  and 
co-operative  action. 

8.  Family  Reunions. 

A  description  of  general  social  conditions  in  Northwestern  Ohio 
would  be  incomplete  without  a  reference  to  the  many  family  reunions 
which  constitute  a  marked  feature  of  almost  every  community  in  the 
section.  These  reunions  are  annual  all-day  social  picnics,  and  draw 
not  only  from  the  home  township  but  also  from  neighboring  townships 
or  other  counties.  While  they  perhaps  tend  to  focus  social  interest 
about  the  household  group  rather  than  about  the  community  group,  yet 
these  two  groups  are  not  in  opposition  to  one  another.  Indeed,  the 
neglect  of  the  former  would  mean  the  utter  downfall  of  the  latter- 
Perhaps  we  can  regard  the  family  reunion  as  a  means  of  preparing  the 
way  for  the  reunion  of  country  people  on  the  basis  of  the  entire 
community. 

9.  Community  Organizations. 

As  a  community  develops,  much  of  its  social  life  becomes  organized, 
and  is  entrusted  to  the  fostering  care  of  societies  of  various  kinds. 
Many  of  these  societies  may  not  be  distinctly  social  in  their  aim,  but 
all  of  them  have  a  social  side  to  their  activities.  In  any  list  of  these 
organizations  in  Northwestern  Ohio,  the  church  would  stand  first  in 

22 


most  communities,  while  the  school  in  a  large  number  of  them  would 
stand  near  the  top.  But  of  these  two  institutions  and  their  activities, 
we  will  speak  later.  In  this  place,  we  desire  to  allude  to  the  part 
played  in  community  life  by  the  secret  orders  and  by  various  open 
fraternal  societies  or  clubs.  In  the  rural  sections  of  the  four  counties 
covered  by  this  report,  there  are  131  separate  lodges  of  various  secret 
orders,  having  a  total  membership  of  8,039,  which  is  32%  of  the  adult 
male  population  in  the  same  districts.  This  percentage,  however, 
stands  only  for  an  approximate  truth,  as  some  of  the  lodges  are  either 
for  women  exclusively  or  admit  female  members.  But  even  with  this 
modification,  the  fact  that  from  one- fourth  to  one-third  of  the  farmers 
are  members  of  lodges  might  seem  to  suggest  that  these  organizations 
play  a  large  part  in  the  social  life  of  the  country  communities.  But  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  figures  thus  far  given  are  rather  misleading  on 
this  point.  The  relation  between  their  enrollment  and  the  average 
attendance  at  their  regular  meetings  is  a  surer  index  of  the  social 
significance  of  the  lodges.  And  in  this  matter,  the  rural  lodges  of  the 
counties  surveyed  show  a  general  inability  to  interest  their  own  mem- 
bers in  their  meetings.  The  percentage  of  their  total  average  attend- 
ance to  their  total  enrollment  is  only  27.5%.  Most  of  the  lodges  have 
the  custom  of  holding  at  least  one  banquet  or  entertainment  a  year, 
usually  for  their  own  members.  This  exclusiveness  of  the  lodges  is 
perhaps  the  chief  criticism  that  can  be  made  upon  them.  Their  prin- 
ciple of  secrecy  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  operations  of  a  free 
democracy.  They  are  too  narrow  to  become  the  basis  for  uniting  a 
whole  community  in  the  bonds  of  brotherly  love  and  mutual  helpful- 
ness. But  do  not  misinterpret  our  wqrds.  We  are  not  of  those  who 
say  that  the  lodges  are  in  opposition  to  the  churches.  But  while,  on 
the  one  hand,  we  rejoice  in  all  that  the  lodges  have  done  in  promoting 
the  spirit  of  fraternity,  we  feel  ourselves  compelled,  on  the  other  hand, 
to  express  our  hope  that  the  churches  in  their  worship  and  activities 
may  embody  more  fully  the  fraternal  spirit,  the  neglect  of  which  on 
their  part  has,  we  believe,  been  the  chief  factor  in  promoting  the 
growth  of  the  lodges. 

In  proportion  to  their  number,  a  greater  contribution  is  made  to  the 
social  life  of  some  of  the  communities  by  the  various  open  societies 
and  clubs  than  by  the  lodges.  There  are  about  52  of  these  clubs  in 
the  four  counties.  They  enroll  a  total  membership  of  about  1,900,  and 
show  a  total  average  attendance  at  their  regular  meetings  of  ^^%  of 
their  total  enrollment.  These  societies  are  for  various  purposes.  The 
village  of  McComb  in  Hancock  County  has  a  community  organization 

23 


of  its  men  called  the  "IMcConib  Boosters."  A  similar  organization 
exists  in  Bettsville,  Seneca  County.  In  Madison  Township  of  Han- 
cock County  there  is  a  social  organization  with  75  male  members,  called 
the  "Peace  and  Plenty  Club."  In  one  of  the  townships  of  Defiance 
County  the  young  men  are  organized  into  an  athletic  and  social  club, 
called  the  "Modern  Knights  of  St.  Paul." 

lUit  throughout  the  section  surveyed  there  seems  to  be  a  dearth  oi 
organizations  that  are  devoted  strictly  to  the  special  interests  of  the 
farmers.  Granges  are  very  few  in  number.  Here  is  an  open  door 
before  the  country  churches  of  the  district.  Let  them  bring  together 
their  mature  members,  especially  the  men,  into  some  kind  of  an  organi- 
zation— call  it  a  brotherhood,  or  a  farmers'  club,  or  what  not — that 
will  give  them  the  opportunity  to  discuss  under  wholesome  religious 
auspices  the  economic  problems  that  confront  them  as  followers  of 
the  same  occupation  and  as  members  of  the  same  community. 


SOLVING    THE    RECREATION    PROBLEM— BOYS'   CLUB    OF   ONE   OF 
THE   CHURCHES 

10.     Recreation. 

In  each  of  the  counties  studied  there  is  a  city  large  enough  to 
dominate  the  social  and  recreational  situation.  Partially,  as  a  conse- 
quence of  this,  organized  recreation  in  the  open  country  is  conspicu- 

24 


ous  chiefly  by  its  absence.  The  rural  churches,  through  their  picnics 
and  socials,  are  perhaps  doing  the  most  that  is  being  done  to  furnish 
opportunities  for  recreation.  Of  the  nature  and  worth  of  the  service 
of  the  churches  in  this  matter,  we  will  have  occasion  to  speak  later 
when  we  come  to  deal  in  detail  with  their  social  life.  Many  of  the 
rural  schools  have  too  small  an  attendance  for  much  organized  play. 
Base-ball  is  the  most  popular  game,  yet  few  regular  baseball  teams  are 
maintained.  Outside  the  cities,  there  is  very  little  investment  in  public 
play  grounds  or  in  play  apparatus  of  any  kind.  As  a  result  the  coun- 
try boys  and  girls  seek  their  recreation  in  the  towns.  The  quick  and 
frequent  transportation  furnished  by  the  interurban  electric  lines 
makes  this  comparatively  easy.  In  the  towns,  the  pool  and  billiard 
parlors,  the  moving  picture  shows,  and  the  dance  halls  are  the  most 
popular  forms  of  amusement.  These  may  not  be  condemnatory  in 
themselves,  but  when  maintained  for  the  purpose  of  making  money, 
they  are  very  apt  to  show  signs  of  moral  degeneracy. 

The  problem  of  providing  recreation  in  the  open  country  is  an  urgent 
one  in  Northwestern  Ohio,  if  the  rural  communities  are  to  withstand 
the  lure  of  the  adjacent  cities.  It  is  also  a  difificult  problem.  Cheap 
and  ready  transportation  to  the  towns  does  not  make  it  any  easier. 
The  farming  community  must  be  made  complete  in  itself.  Those  who 
have  to  work  or  go  to  school  within  its  bounds  should  not  be  obliged 
to  go  outside  for  their  play.  The  rural  churches  of  Northwestern 
Ohio  must  furnish  the  religious  enthusiasm  for  the  solving  of  this 
problem.  There  is  enough  spiritual  dynamic  in  them  to  do  it,  if  they 
will  view  the  task  as  one  having  great  religious  value.  It  is  in  the 
free  and  untrammelled  expressions  of  ourselves,  which  we  call  recre- 
ation or  play,  that  our  moral  character  and  the  practical  efficiency  of 
our  religion  are  most  clearly  revealed,  and  are  most  powerfully  effected 
in  their  development.  The  church  that  does  not  see  the  religious 
significance  of  wisely  directing  the  recreations  of  its  members,  especi- 
ally those  of  its  young  people,  is  spiritually  blind. 

11.     Moral  Conditions. 

The  healthfulness  of  the  social  life  in  any  community  records  itself 
in  the  moral  conditions  prevalent  among  its  people.  But  it  is  prac- 
tically impossible  to  state  these  in  figures  or  in  any  statistical  form. 
One  index  of  conditions  is  the  number  of  illegitimate  births  in  a  dis- 
trict. According  to  the  1909  report  of  the  State  Bureau  of  Vital 
Statistics,  the  rates  of  illegitimacy  for  the  State  and  for  the  four 
counties  under  review  are  as  follows : 

25 


Division  i  Rates  per  100,000 


State    I  47.7 

Allen   County    71.4 

Defiance   County    14.9 

Hancock  County    i  19.1 

Seneca  County   16.9 

Lima   Citv    91.1 

Defiance   City    23.8 

Findlay  City   22.7 

Tiffin   City   18.0 

Fostoria  City   24.1 


These  figures  acquire  significance  for  the  rural  communities  when 
we  notice  that  in  each  county  the  rate  for  the  city  or  cities  within  its 
borders  is  higher  than  for  the  county  as  a  whole.  This  argues  for  a 
comparatively  low  rate  in  the  rural  districts.  Defiance  County,  the 
most  rural  of  the  four,  has  the  lowest  rate.  As  compared  with  the 
average  rate  for  the  entire  state  (47.7),  all  four  counties  make  a  very 
favorable  showing  with  the  exception  of  Allen  County,  in  which  the 
rate  of  illegitimacy  exceeds  the  state-wide  rate  by  23.7.  This  deplor- 
able situation  in  Allen  County  is  due  to  the  distressing  conditions  in 
Lima,  which  is  the  fourth  city  of  the  state  in  the  proportion  of  its 
population  who  are  of  illegitimate  birth. 

But  in  most  of  the  rural  communities  throughout  the  district  the 
moral  tone  is  good.  Our  investigators  reported  it  as  improving  in 
84%  of  the  townships  studied.  Perhaps  no  better  way  can  be  used 
to  present  graphically  the  moral  tendencies  at  work  in  the  district 
than  to  quote  some  of  the  remarks  of  our  field  agents  as  to  condi- 
tions in  several  of  the  townships.  Here  are  some  reports  of  a  favor- 
able character:  "Temperance  movement  increasing",  "Better  dis- 
cipline in  school",  "Dry  township",  "No  saloons",  "Decline  of 
venereal  diseases",  "Churches,  improving",  "Less  drunkenness  and 
rowdyism",  "Bootlegging  scarcely  known",  "Fewer  dances."  Here 
are  other  reports  of  a  less  favorable  character :  "Too  many  trips  to 
Toledo",  "More  saloons",  "Beer  is  given  to  the  children  like  water", 
"Pool  room  well  attended,  church  attendance  not  good",  "Too  many 
'Joy  Rides'  of  the  boys  and  girls",  "A  group  of  young  men  go  outside 
the  corporation  almost  every  Sunday,  take  some  beer  along,  and  play 
cards",  "Boys  gather  at  stores  on  Sundays",  "Immoral  language  on 
walls  of  school  out-houses." 

Hancock  County  is  the  only  one  of  the  four  that  is  entirely  without 
saloons.  In  the  other  counties,  however,  most  of  the  dram-shops  are 
located  in  the  cities.  The  sentiment  against  the  saloon  is  gaining  head- 
way in  most  of  the  country  communities. 

26 


CHAPTER  V. 
RURAL  SCHOOLS. 

1.  Reason  for  the  Study. 

The  ultimate  purpose  of  the  country  school  and  the  country  church 
in  their  work  for  the  young  is  one  and  the  same.  They  are  both  seek- 
ing to  equip  the  boys  and  girls  for  efificient  and  useful  living  in  a  rural 
society.  But  in  their  common  task,  there  is  a  differentiation  in  func- 
tion. The  country  schools  seeks  to  supply  the  youth  with  the  intel- 
lectual tools  for  successful  -social  intercourse,  whereas  the  country 
church  aims  to  give  the  growing  boys  and  girls  that  religious  dynamic 
which  will  impel  them  to  use  these  tools  for  the  glory  of  God,  that  is, 
for  the  highest  welfare  of  the  rural  community.  These  two  functions 
are  closely  related  to  one  another.  Neither  institution  can  afiford  to 
be  indififerent  to  the  welfare  of  the  other.  This  fact  is  the  justification 
for  the  inclusion  of  a  study  of  the  rural  schools  of  Northwestern 
Ohio  in  this  report.  The  country  churches  of  the  district  have  a 
right  to  know  whether  or  not  the  country  schools  are  adequately  per- 
forming their  part  of  the  common  task.  This  part  of  our  pamphlet 
seeks  to  supply  them  with  an  answer  to  this  inquiry. 

2.  Scope  o£  the  Study. 

Unless  otherwise  indicated,  whatever  is  here  said  about  educational 
conditions  in  Northwestern  Ohio  is  based  upon  an  investigation  made 
during  the  summer  of  1912  of  231  rural  schools,  distributed  as  fol- 
lows: Allen  County,  124;  Defiance,  23;  and  Hancock,  84.  The 
schools  of  Seneca  County  were  not  included  in  this  investigation. 

3.  Material  Equipment. 

Owing  to  the  lack  of  timber  in  Northwestern  Ohio,  most  of  its 
school  buildings  are  constructed  of  brick.  Of  the  231  school  houses 
investigated,  165  (71.4%)  are  of  this  material,  65  (28.1%)  of  frame, 
and  1  (0.5%)  of  concrete.  The  vast  majority  (197  or  85.3%)  of 
these  buildings  consist  of  only  one  room.  Those  having  two  rooms 
number  10  (4.3%)  ;  three  rooms,  4  (1.8%)  ;  four  rooms,  10  (4.3%)  ; 
and  five  or  more  rooms,  10  (4.3%).  As  to  the  advisability  of  having 
so  many  one-room  school  buildings  in  a  country  so  level  and  so  acces- 
sible, part  with  part,  as  Northwestern  Ohio,  we  will  have  occasion 

27 


to  ask  later  on  in  the  course  of  our  discussion.  Right  here,  we  will 
confine  ourselves  to  a  description  of  the  buildings  as  they  stand  at 
present.  Of  course,  no  one  has  any  complaint  against  one-room 
school  buildings  in  those  places  where  the  conditions  would  seem  to 
demand  their  construction;  but  what  every  patron  of  the  schools  has 
a  right  to  demand  is  that  the  school  building,  of  whatever  size,  shall 
be  so  constructed  and  so  equipped  as  to  minister  most  largely  to  the 
physical  health  of  the  scholars.  But  this  is  not  the  case  with  most  of 
the  rural  school  buildings  throughout  Northwestern  Ohio. 

For  instance,  practically  all  the  one-room  school  buildings  have 
windows  on  both  sides,  a  most  unhealthy  arrangement,  since  the  loca- 
tion of  windows  on  two  opposite  sides  of  the  school  room  causes 
"cross  lights"  to  work  their  damage  upon  the  eyes  of  the  scholars 
and  teacher.  The  school  room  should  be  lighted  from  the  left  side 
or  rear,  or  both,  but  never  from  the  two  opposite  sides.  Again,  66.8% 
of  the  one-room  buildings  are  heated  by  a  single  unjacketed  stove,  a 
heating  apparatus  that  succeeds  in  roasting  those  who  have  to  sit 
near-by  and  in  freezing  those  who  are  obliged  to  sit  far  away. 

A  more  satisfactory  condition  is  showai  in  the  matter  of  seating  facil- 
ities. Only  4.3%  of  the  -schools  are  over-crowded.  The  old-fashioned 
and  ill-adapted  double  desks  are  disappearing,  70.6%  of  the  schools 
being  furnished,  in  part  at  least,  with  the  more  modern  single  desks. 
But  as  yet  only  4.8%  of  the  school  rooms  are  equipped  with  any  of 
the  hygienic  adjustable  desks.  One-fourth  of  the  school  buildings 
have  a  cloak  room  separate  from  the  class  room. 

The  equipment  for  instruction  is  fairly  adequate  for  the  curriculum 
followed.  Wall  maps  and  charts  were  found  in  84.4%  of  the  schools ; 
libraries  of  varying  sizes  in  64.5%.  'Over  one-half  of  the  school  rooms 
are  furnished  with  either  an  organ  or  a  piano. 

In  the  matter  of  providing  for  the  education  of  the  children's  sense 
of  beauty,  there  is  considerable  room  for  improvement.  Nearly  one- 
half  of  the  school  rooms  have  barren  walls,  unrelieved  by  pictures  or 
decorative  designs  of  any  sort.  The  task  of  beautifying  the  school 
room  is  too  often  left  to  the  initiative  and  industry  of  the  teacher, 
who,  as  a  rule,  has  little  time  and  less  money  to  devote  to  this  object. 
Moreover,  many  of  the  teachers  do  not  fully  realize  the  very  close 
connection  in  the  training  of  the  child  between  the  appreciation  of 
aesthetic  values  and  the  clear  vision  of  moral  values.  This  matter  is 
so  important  that  it  should  not  be  left  to  the  desire  and  the  ability 
of  the  individual  teacher,  but  should  be  attended  to  by  the  governing 
body  of  the  schools.     Township  school  boards  should  arrange  for  the 

28 


placing  of  pictures  of  high  artistic  vahie  upon  the  walls  of  every 
school  under  their  care. 

But  from  our  examination  of  the  interiors  of  the  school  buildings, 
let  us  turn  to  a  consideration  of  their  exteriors.  The  grounds  about 
every  rural  school  building  ought  to  be  the  model  for  beauty,  neatness, 
and  carefulness  to  the  entire  neighborhood.  They  should  be  con- 
stantly and  silently  teaching  these  high  ideals.  Anything  less  means 
a  lowering  of  the  moral  tone  of  the  community.  It  becomes,  there- 
fore, a  matter  of  vital  concern  to  the  rural  people  of  Northwestern 
Ohio,  when  we  remark  on  the  basis  of  our  study  that  the  grounds 
about  most  of  the  rural  schools  in  the  section  receive  little  attention. 
Of  all  the  school  properties  investigated,  only  21.6%  had  good  walks, 
and  most  of  these  were  straight  and  angular  without  any  of  the 
beauty  that  graceful  curves  afiford.  Flower  beds  were  found  in  only 
7 .2)%  of  the  school  yards,  although  trees  lent  their  grace  and  their 
shade  to  the  grounds  of  63.6%  of  the  schools.  In  a  good  many  cases, 
the  grounds  are  trodden  out  of  all  beauty  by  the  children  at  their 
play.  We  would  not  stop  the  playing,  but  would  urge  the  setting 
aside  of  a  distinct  place  on  the  school  property  where  the  games 
would  be  played.  The  ground  in  close  proximity  to  the  school  build- 
ing could  then  be  made  beautiful  without  fear  of  molestation.  The 
provision  of  such  a  playground  in  connection  with  the  rural  schools 
might  in  some  cases  necessitate  the  allotment  of  a  larger  amount  of 
land  to  each  school.  One  acre  is  the  average  amount  assigned  at 
present  throughout  the  section  surveyed. 

Wells  supply  the  water  for  the  children  in  nearly  all  of  the  schools. 
The  toilets  are  for  the  most  part  placed  at  a  respectable  distance  from 
the  school  building,  although  only  26.6%  of  them  can  in  any  wise  be 
called  sanitary. 

4.     Enrollment  and  Attendance. 

Every  year  an  enumeration  is  made  in  each  township  of  all  persons 
of  school  age,  that  is,  of  all  who  are  between  the  ages  of  6  and  21 
years.  Those  between  the  ages  of  16  and  21  are  not  required  to 
attend  school,  and  of  course  many  avail  themselves  of  this  liberty 
allowed  by  the  law.  On  the  other  hand,  some  of  the  pupils  enrolled 
in  the  schools  are  under  6  years.  Not  being  able  to  make  the  proper 
allowance  for  these  two  groups,  we  cannot  tell  exactly  what  propor- 
tion of  the  children  who  should  be  in  school  are  actually  enrolled. 
The  relation,  however,  between  the  total  enrollment  and  the  daily 
attendance  affords  a  very  satisfactory  index  of  the  efficiency  of  the 

29 


schools.  For  the  rural  schools  of  the  three  counties  covered  by  this 
section  of  our  report,  this  relation  is  given  in  the  table  that  follows, 
compiled  from  the  Ohio  School  Report  for  1912.  The  figures  have 
been  calculated  for  the  rural  schools  by  substracting  from  the  totals 
of  the  respective  counties  the  totals  for  Lima,  Defiance  City,  Hicks- 
ville  and  Findlay. 


County 


Allen   

Defiance  .... 
Hancock  .... 
All  3  counties 


Total   Enrollment 

in  the  Rural 

Schools 

1911-12 


6,204 
3,321 

4.647 
14,172 


Daily  Attendance 
in  the  Rural 

Schools 
1911-12 


4.873 

2.459 

3,733 

11,065 


Per  cent,  of  Daily 

Attendance  to  Total 

Enrollment  in  the 

Rural  Schools 

1911-12 


78.5 
74.0 
80.3 
78.0 


Considering  the  three  counties  together,  the  percentage  of  daily  at- 
tendance to  enrollment  in  their  rural  schools  is  78.0.  The  schools  of 
the  cities  above  mentioned  make  a  better  showing,  82.7%  of  their  total 
enrollment  being  in  daily  attendance.  The  figure  for  the  entire  State 
is  77.2%.  Using  this  as  .a  basis  for  comparison,  the  rural  schools  of 
Northwestern  Ohio,  judged  as  to  their  efficiency  by  the  relation  be- 
tween their  enrollment  and  their  daily  attendance,  make  a  very  cred- 
itable showing.  We  may  say  that  their  efficiency,  as  measured  by 
this  criterion,  is  one  point  above  the  average  efficiency  for  the  State. 

5.     School  Session. 

Will  our  commendation  continue  if  we  take  a  glimpse  at  what 
transpires  during  the  session  of  the  rural  schools?     Let  us  see. 

In  the  first  place,  we  notice  that  although  the  session  is  of  proper 
length,  being  eight  months  in  most  cases,  the  average  number  of  reci- 
tations per  day  is  far  too  many  for  efficient  teaching.  The  following 
table  gives  the  number  of  recitations  per  day  in  173  schools  reporting: 

No.  Recitations  No.  schools 

1   to     9 3 

10  to   14 6 

15  to   19 14 

20  to  24 23 

25  to  29 38 

30  or  more 89 

The  table  shows  that  the  larger  proportion  of  the  schools  have  25 
or  more  recitations  per  day.  This  means  that  only  about  twelve  min- 
utes can  be  devoted  to  each  recitation.  This  over-crowded  condition 
results  from  the  large  number  of  grades  that  in  the  one-room  schools 
are  placed  under  the  control  of  one  teacher.    The  only  remedy  for  this 

30 


condition  lies  in  centralization,  whereby  the  children  in  one,  two,  or 
three  grades  can  be  placed  economically  under  the  instruction  of  one 
teacher.  The  trouble  lies,  not  in  an  over-crowded  curriculum,  but 
in  the  fact  that  the  teacher  in  the  average  one-room  school  has  to 
teach  this  curriculum  to  several  grades.  Thus,  the  necessity  for  the 
centralization  of  district  schools  is  self-evident.  As  to  its  feasibility 
in  Northwestern  Ohio,  we  will  have  occasion  to  speak  in  another  con- 
nection. 

CONSOLIDATION  NEEDED 

Of  the  rural   schools 


Four  counties  in 
Norlhwestevh  Ohio 


OKloBoral  Life  Surve\< 


We  observe,  in  the  second  place,  that  the  time  is  occupied  almost 
exclusively  with  the  assigning  and  hearing  of  lessons.  This  gives  to 
the  school  session  an  atmosphere  of  formality  and  bookishness,  and 
removes  it  from  any  contact  with  the  lives  of  the  pupils.  Moreover, 
it  is  a  hindrance  to  the  purpose  for  which  the  rural  school  is  founded, 
which  is,  not  to  afford  a  place  for  the  learning  and  saying  of  things 
out  of  books,  but  to  give  an  opportunity  for  the  training  of  the 
farmer's  boys  and  girls  for  successful  and  contented  living  upon  the 
farm.  In  the  carrying  out  of  this  purpose  books  must  be  used,  but 
their  contents  must  be  studied  in  and  through  the  processes  of  farm 
life.  No  new  subjects  need  be  added  to  the  curriculum.  The  three 
R's  must  be  learned,  but  learned  in  connection  with  the  things  that 
are  done  upon  the  farm.  To  effect  this  connection,  the  daily  routine 
of  the  rural  school  must  consist,  not  simply  in  head-work  only,  but 
also  in  head-work  joined  with  hand-work,  now  on  the  inside  at  the 
carpenter's  bench,  now  on  the  outside  in  the  experimental  garden.  But 
only  0.9%  of  the  rural  schools  in  Northwestern  Ohio  investigated  by 
our  field  agents  include  manual   training  in  their   routine,   and  only 

31 


0.8%  have  field  work  in  a  vegetable  garden.  Domestic  science  is 
taught,  likewise,  in  only  0.9%  of  the  schools.  A  state  law  requires 
the  teaching  of  agriculture  in  all  the  rural  schools,  but  as  yet  the 
instruction  in  this  subject  is  almost  entirely  from  books.  It  is  grati- 
fying to  note  that  nature  study,  as  a  preparation  for  agriculture,  finds 
a  place  in  one-third  of  the  schools.  We  welcome  this  as  a  sign  of  the 
oncoming  of  the  better  day,  when  all  the  rural  schools  will  have  be- 
come real  expressions  of  the  life  in  the  country  community. 

In  the  third  place,  we  find  that  in  the  session  of  most  of  the  rural 
schools  there  is  very  little  recognition  of  the  immense  educational 
value  of  play.  Only  6.5%  of  the  schools  studied  have  any  play  appar- 
atus or  recreation  facilities.  Games  are  played  during  recess.  The 
teachers  usually  play  with  the  pupils  in  some  of  these  games,  and 
thus  a  partial  direction  is  given  to  this  part  of  their  activities. 

6.     The  Teaching  Force. 

Long  ago  some  one  said,  "As  the  teacher,  so  is  the  school."  We  be- 
lieve it  to  be  a  true  statement.  The  progress  of  the  rural  schools  of 
Northwestern  Ohio  surely  depends  upon  a  growing  standard  of  effi- 
ciency in  their  teaching  force.  We  have  no  desire  to  speak  in'  a 
condemnatory  manner  of  the  rural  school  teachers  now  at  work  in 
the  section.  Many  of  them  are  both  capable  and  progressive.  But 
looking  at  the  situation  as  a  whole,  our  investigation  obliges  us  to 
say  that  there  is  considerable  room  for  improvement.  This  improve- 
ment in  the  teaching  force  should  show  itself  along  the  following 
three  lines:  (1)  Better  professional  preparation;  (2)  Higher  sal- 
aries; and  (3)  Longer  tenure  of  office.  Let  us  discuss  these  questions 
in  turn,  beginning  with  the  better  professional  preparation. 

Our  investigators  ascertained    the    training    of    168    rural   school 
teachers  at  work  within  the  three  counties  covered  by  this  section  of 
our  report.    Of  these  teachers : 
20  Have  had  only  common  school  training. 

6  Have  had  only  common  school  training  plus  summer  school  work. 
62  Have  had  only  high  school  training. 
25  Have  had  only  normal  school  training. 
33  Have  had  summer  school  training  in  addition  either  to  high  school 

or  to  high  school  and  normal  training. 
22  Have  attended  college. 

This  tabulation  shows  that  over  one-half  (52.3%)  of  the  168  teachers 
have  received  no  regular  academic  training  beyond  the  high  school. 
Only    14.8%   have   received   the  benefit   of   a   normal    school   course. 

32 


These  facts  at  least  suggest  the  need  for  better  professional  prepar- 
ation on  the  part  of  the  rural  school  teachers  of  the  three  counties. 

As  to  the  need   for  higher  salaries,  it  will  be  made  clear  by  the 
following  table  which  shows  the  distribution  of  monthly  wages  among 
214  teachers  of  rural  schools  in  the  three  counties: 
$40 — 49  paid  to     53  teachers. 
50—59  paid  to  102  teachers. 
60 — 69  paid  to     2)7  teachers. 
70  or  over  paid  to  22  teachers. 

A  state  law  requires  the  payment  of  a  minimum  wage  of  $40  per 
month.  While  it  is  commendable  that  in  the  counties  surveyed  a 
majority  of  the  rural  school  teachers  receive  more  than  the  minimum 
amount,  yet  it  must  still  be  said  that  most  of  them  receive  a  far  too 
meagre  compensation.  A  good  teacher  in  a  country  school  ought  to 
receive  a  salary  for  his  services  high  enough  to  induce  him  to  engage 
in  the  teaching  of  country  schools  as  a  life  work.  But  we  submit 
that  an  income  of  $50  or  even  $60  a  month  for  only  eight  or  perhaps 
nine  months  of  the  year,  is  not  sufficient  for  this  purpose.  The  con- 
sequence is  that  the  teachers  are  constantly  moving  on  to  something 
more  remunerative.  Thus,  this  need  of  higher  salaries  connects  itself 
very  closely  with  the  need  for  a  longer  tenure  of  office,  to  which  we 
must  now  direct  our  attention. 

This  latter  need  is  very  strikingly  revealed  by  the  fact  that  out  of 
204  rural  school  teachers,  working  in  three  counties  at  the  time  of  the 
survey,  130,  or  63.7%,  held  certificates  for  only  one  year.  This  points 
to  the  fact  that  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  teachers  of  the  country  schools 
are  in  the  teaching  profession  only  as  a  temporary  occupation.  That 
this  condition  weakens  the  efficiency  of  the  rural  schools  is  self-evident. 
Make-shift  teachers,  who  stay  in  a  rural  community  for  only  a  year 
or  two,  cannot  do  the  patient  and  long-maturing  work  that  counts  in 
the  building-up  of  the  farmer's  boys  and  girls  into  efficient  citizenship. 

7.     The  School  as  a  Community  Center. 

The  school  building,  as  the  property  of  the  entire  community,  can 
very  properly  be  made  the  center  of  social  joys  and  intellectual  de- 
lights for  all  the  families  within  its  district.  But  in  Northwestern  Ohio 
this  possibility  has  but  very  rarely  been  turned  into  actual  fact.  Oc- 
casional opportunities  for  social  enjoyment  are  offered  by  the  literary 
and  musical  entertainments  which  are  given  by /8 1.8%  of  the  schools 
in  the  three  counties  studied.  Some  of  these  entertainments  are 
simply  literary  exercises  which  are  held  once  or  twice  a  month  as  a 


The   liake- shift    ScKool    leacher 

Certificates  held  By  XOH-  rural 
school  teachers  in  i^jii-z^/a. 


For  liFe 


dM% 


ForS'lOirs.    M    V-.4-% 


For  5  vjea^rs 
For  3v(ears 


^ 


^ 


m 


For  X  \jeAvs  ^^^      J  X.  3  % 

For  I  v|ear 

63.7/6  for  one  \J^t\r  onlvj 
T/iT€e   counties  In 
Northwestern    Ohio  OkioBuralLife  Surwevj 

part  of  the  regular  program  of  the  school.  Others  are  of  a  more 
elaborate  nature,  being  arranged  for  at  irregular  intervals  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  money  for  some  need  of  the  school.  The  attend- 
ance of  patrons  and  visitors  at  the  latter  kind  is  usually  good,  show- 
ing that  the  people  are  appreciative  of  such  efforts. 

8.     Supervision. 

All  of  the  shortcomings  of  the  rural  schools  in  Northwestern  Ohio 
— poorly  planned  buildings,  recitation  periods  of  insufficient  length, 
a  curriculum  unadapted  to  country  life,  lack  of  provision  for  recre- 
ation, incomplete  preparation  of  teachers,  their  short  tenure  of  office 
— all  of  these  call  for  a  supervision  over  the  schools  of  a  closer  and 
more  scientific  character.  Twenty-three  out  of  the  forty-one  rural 
townships  in  the  three  counties  studied  are  still  content  with  the  inci- 
dental, non-professional,  slipshod  supervision  given  by  an  untrained 
township  school  board.  That  professionally  trained  superintendents 
are  employed  in  the  remaining  eighteen  townships  shows  that  more 

34 


than  a  beginning  has  been  made  in  providing  adequate  supervision. 
Of  the  three  counties,  Defiance  leads  in  this  respect,  eight  out  of  her 
twelve  townships  having  each  an  educational  expert  in  charge  of 
the  schools. 

The  township  is  considered  by  some  to  be  too  small  a  unit  for 
economic  supervision,  and  the  proposition  is  made  by  them  to  com- 
bine two  or  more  townships  into  a  district  for  supervision  purposes. 
As  we  write  this  report  word  reaches  us  that  the  Ohio  School  Survey 
Commission  has  recommended  the  establishment  in  each  county  of 
the  State  of  a  board  of  education  which  will  district  the  county  for 
supervision  purposes  and  also  elect  a  county  superintendent  who  will 
nominate  district  superintendents  for  the  various  supervision  districts, 
subject  to  confirmation  by  the  local  boards  of  education  in  these  same 
districts.  We  also  learn  that  a  bill  incorporating  these  recommenda- 
tions of  the  Commission  has  been  introduced  into  the  State  legisla- 
ture. Without  in  the  least  attempting  to  pass  judgment  upon  the  de- 
tails of  this  measure,  we  may  be  allowed  to  remark  that  in  our  opinion 
it  represents  a  movement  that  is  headed  in  the  right  direction. 

9.     Centralization. 

But  the  panacea  for  all  the  ills  of  the  rural  schools  of  Northwestern 
Ohio  is  township  centralization  or  consolidation,  either  partial  or 
complete.  It  alone  will  most  economically  open  the  way  for  the  rural 
schools  to  obtain  professionally  trained  teachers;  to  hold  them  for  a 
long  tenure  of  office;  to  secure  a  real  graded  course  with  adequate  in- 
struction in  each  subject;  to  build  their  curriculum  around  the  pur- 
suits dominant  in  a  rural  community,  such  pursuits  as  household  man- 
agement, the  manual  arts,  and  agriculture ;  to  provide  laboratories  and 
experimental  gardens ;  and  to  furnish  facilities  for  play  and  recreation. 

But  at  the  time  of  the  Survey,  the  three  counties  contained  only  one 
consolidated  school.  This  seems  strange  when  we  bear  in  mind  the 
wealth  of  the  region,  the  level  nature  of  the  country,  and  the  yearly 
improvement  in  the  roads,  all  of  which  favor  the  adoption  of  town- 
ship consolidation.  Our  investigators  were  surprised  to  find  so  much 
opposition  to  the  plan.  Among  the  reasons  put  forth  against  the 
centralization  of  the  rural  schools  were  such  as  the  following:  (1) 
roads  not  sufficiently  piked,  (2)  the  day-long  absence  of  the  children 
from  home,  (3)  depreciation  of  property  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town- 
ship, and  (4)  an  increase  in  the  tax  rate. 

The  first  has  some  validity,  but  its  force  is  diminishing  every  year. 
The  second  rests  at  bottom  upon  a  narrow  social  outlook,  ignorance, 

35 


and  superstitious  fear.  It  will  disappear  with  the  growth  of  a  wider 
neighborliness  in  the  country.  The  third  is  puerile.  In  the  first 
place,  we  doubt  its  economic  truthfulness.  We  beheve  that  the  average 
township  is  a  unit  of  sufficient  smallness  that  every  benefit  to  the 
township  at  its  center  will  in  the  long  run  be  felt  to  its  remotest  cor- 
ners. But  even  if  the  economic  accuracy  of  the  objection  be  granted, 
who  will  care  to  champion  it?  It  is  a  sordid  selfishness  that  puts  the 
welfare  of  one's  property  above  the  welfare  of  one's  children.  The 
fourth  argument  demands  a  fuller  consideration. 

Let  us  grant  at  once  its  contention,  namely :  that  the  consolidation 
of  the  rural  schools  will  increase  the  tax  rate.  What  of  it?  School 
Superintendent  O.  J.  Kern  of  Winnebago  County,  Illinois,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  centralization  of  rural  schools,  says:  'Tf  the  country  people 
want  better  schools  in  the  country  for  country  children,  they  must 
spend  more  money  for  education  and  spend  it  in  a  better  way.  There 
is  no  other  way."  Our  public  school  system  rests  upon  the  idea  of 
equal  educational  privileges  for  all.  But,  at  present,  it  belies  its 
foundation.  The  farmer's  boys  and  girls  are  being  slighted.  For 
instance,  in  the  school  year  1911-12,  according  to  the  Ohio  School 
Report  for  the  latter  year,  the  cities  of  Lima,  Defiance  and  Findlay, 
together  with  all  the  villages  in  the  three  counties  maintaining  their 
own  schools,  spent  for  education  the  sum  of  $35.15  per  pupil.  In 
the  same  year,  the  open  country  districts  of  the  three  counties  ex- 
pended the  sum  of  $28.49  per  pupil.  The  difiference  between  these 
two  amounts,  $6.66,  is  the  measure  of  the  discrimination  against  the 
farmer's  boy  or  girl.  This  discrimination  arises  from  a  mal-adjust- 
nient  in  the  distribution  of  school  revenues  between  local  taxes  and 
state  taxes.  The  larger  amount  comes  from  the  former  source.  The 
cities  and  villages,  having  a  higher  per  capita  assessment  than  the 
open  country  districts,  are  thus  enabled  to  raise  more  money  per  capita 
for  school  purposes.  The  following  table  shows  the  various  sources 
of  school  money  received  in  the  three  counties  during  the  year 
1911-12,  and  establishes  the  statement  made  above  that  most  of  it 
comes  from  local  taxation.  The  figures  are  taken  from  the  Ohio 
School  Report  for  1912 : 


Allen 

Defiance 

Hancock 

From  State  Common  School  Fund 

From  other  State  Funds 

$  32,505.00 

2,666.43 

249,195.74 

118,066.49 

27,308.36 

$14,100.00 

1,889.78 

93,099.52 

0.00 

4,809.51 

$  19,921.00 
1894  71 

From  Local  Taxes 

161  416  58 

T'"rom  Sale  of  Bonds 

13  925  94 

From  all  other  sources 

23,066.41 

Z6 


The  receipts  from  local  taxation  amount  to  65.9%  of  the  total. 
We  believe  in  local  taxation  for  school  support.  It  keeps  alive  in 
the  community  an  interest  in  school  afifairs.  But  some  scheme  of 
state  taxation  should  be  devised  which  would  enable  the  rural  town- 
ships, by  drawing  more  largely  upon  the  State,  to  have  an  amount  of 
money  for  school  purposes  equal  per  capita  to  that  expended  by  the 
cities.  A  plan  of  this  kind  might  make  it  possible  for  the  rural  town- 
ships to  consolidate  their  schools  without  any  material  rise  in  the 
local  tax-rate.  In  any  case,  consolidation  must  be  brought  about  if 
the  child  of  the  farm  is  to  be  given  the  same  school  privileges  as  the 
child  of  the  city.  We  confidently  look  forward  to  quite  a  rapid  cen- 
tralization of  rural  schools  throughout  this  section  of  the  State. 

We  have  mentioned  that  at  the  time  of  the  survey  there  was  but 
one  consolidated  school  in  the  three  counties.  This  was  in  Union 
Township,  Hancock  County.  We  will  close  our  study  of  the  rural 
school  situation  in  the  section  by  giving  a  brief  description  of  this 
school.  It  is  a  case  of  partial  consolidation  only,  four  out  of  eight 
district  schools  having  been  joined  together.  Besides  the  work  of 
the  elementary  grades,  this  school  provides  a  first  grade  high  school 
course.  Its  two-storied  brick  building,  erected  in  1910  at  a  cost  of 
nearly  $24,000,  contains  six  class  rooms  of  ample  size  besides  a  gal- 
leried  auditorium  seating  350.  All  of  the  class  rooms  have  the  light 
coming  from  the  left  side  only,  and  are  equipped  with  maps,  single 
desks,  reference  libraries  of  at  least  forty  volumes  each,  and  adjoin- 
ing coat  rooms.  Besides  the  books  in  each  room,  there  is  a  separate 
library  room  containing  200  volumes.     In  the  basement  there  is  a 


CONSOLIDATED   SCHOOL,   UNION  TOWNSHIP,  HANCOCK  COUNTY 

37 


SCHOOL   WAGON    AND   PUPILS,    UNION    TOWNSHIP    CONSOLI  DATED    SCHOOL 

laboratory  and  a  power  plant.  The  building  is  lighted  throughout  by 
electricity,  and  is  supplied  with  running  water  by  a  gasoline  engine. 
There  is  a  sanitary  drinking  fountain  in  the  main  hallway.  The 
grounds  comprise  five  acres.  There  is  already  an  experimental  gar- 
den, and  abundant  room  for  the  making  of  a  play-ground.  Good 
walks  and  flower  beds  adorn  the  grounds  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  building.  The  children  are  conveyed  to  the  school  in  wagons, 
the  farthest  coming  from  a  distance  of  four  miles. 

This  school  is  not  ideal  in  every  way,  but  it  represents  such  a 
marked  advance  over  any  other  school  found  in  the  three  counties, 
that  we  cannot  help  but  express  our  hope  that  something  like  it  may 
soon  be  found  in  all  of  the  rural  townships  throughout  Northwestern 
Ohio. 


38 


CHAPTER  VI. 
RELIGIOUS  CONDITIONS  AND  ACTIVITIES. 
1,     Number  and  Distribution  of  the  Churches. 

(a)  As  to  location.  In  this  chapter  we  will  undertake  to  set  forth 
some  of  the  important  facts  concerning  those  churches  of  the  four 
counties  which  are  located  in  the  open  country  or  in  villages  of  less 
than  2,500  people.  There  are  304  of  them;  184  (60.5%)  belonging 
to  the  former  category,  and  120  (39.5%)  to  the  latter.  They  are 
distributed  among  the  counties  as  follows : 


County 

Number  oi 
Country 

Churches 
Village 

Total 

Allen    

Defiance    

Hancock    

Seneca  

49 
40 
62 
33 
184 

44 
16 
28 
32 
120 

93 
56 
90 
65 

Total    

304 

(b)  As  to  population.  Considering  the  rural  sections  of  the  four 
counties  together,  there  is  one  church  for  every  278  inhabitants.  In 
a  level  and  well-populated  region,  such  as  Northwestern  Ohio,  one 
would  judge  that  there  need  not  be  more  than  one  church  to  every 
500  inhabitants.  On  this  basis  there  is  an  excess  of  over  100  churches 
in  the  four  counties.  But  even  this  excess  would  not  be  such  a  serious 
problem,  if  the  churches  were  more  evenly  distributed.  In  Big  Lick 
Township,  Hancock  County,  there  are  nine  church  buildings,  or  one 
to  every  122  inhabitants.  Cass  Township,  on  the  other  hand,  in  this 
same  County,  has  a  population  of  724  and  only  one  church.  Within 
a  radius  of  four  miles  from  a. given  point  in  the  southern  part  of 
Hancock  County  there  are  22  churches,  serving  a  population  of  about 
5,000.  Mark  and  Delaware  Townships,  in  Defiance  County,  lie  side 
by  side.  The  difference  between  their  populations  is  about  300,  the 
former  having  1,433  people,  the  latter  1,735.  But  the  number  of 
churches  in  the  latter  is  double  that  in  the  former.  Still  other  in- 
stances of  uneven  distribution  could  be  cited  if  we  had  the  space  to 
devote  to  them.  A  glance  at  the  church  maps  of  the  four  counties, 
printed  on  pages  61-63  of  this  pamphlet,  will  give  the  reader  a  graphic 
idea  of  the  haphazard  and  uneven  distribution  of  churches  throughout 
the  section.  This  condition  is  the  result  of  sectarianism  and  the  failure 
of  the  churches  to  co-operate  with  one  another.  We  wait  for  the  time 
when  the  several  churches  will  study  their  common  field  of  work 
together,  and  then  equitably  apportion  the  task  among  themselves  in 
accordance  with  the  results  of  their  study. 

39 


2.     Church  Membership  and  Population. 

Data  as  to  present  membership  were  secured  for  302  out  of  the 
304  rural  churches  in  the  four  counties.  The  total  number  of  mem- 
bers in  these  churches  is  approximately  26,238,  which  is  31%  of  the 
total  rural  population  of  the  townships  surveyed,  or  38.3%  of  all  per- 
sons within  the  same  area  who  are  ten  years  old  and  over.  The  fol- 
lowing table  shows  these  relations  in  the  case  of  each  one  of  the  four 
counties : 


1 

Total 
1910 

2 

Rural 

Population 

lOyrsold 

and  over 

1910 

3 

Member- 
ship in 
Rural 

Churches 
1912-13 

9,078 
3,694 
7,639 
5.827 
26.238 

4 

Percentage 

of 
(3)to(l) 

5 

Percentage 

of 
(3)  to  (2) 

Allen  23,516 

18,792 
13,710 
17,396 
18.436 
68,334 

38.6 
21.5 
35.6 
25.9 
31.0 

48.3 

Defiance   17,171 

Hancock  21,457 

Seneca    22,475 

All  4  counties.        84,619 

26.9 
43.9 
31.6 
38.3 

The  figures  in  the  first  column  are  taken  from  the  United  States 
Census.  Those  in  the  second  column  are  derived  from  the  Census 
by  using  the  percentage  of  the  rural  to  the  total  population  upon  the 
total  number  of  persons  ten  years  old  and  over.  The  membership  of 
the  churches  has  been  calculated,  not  from  printed  statistics,  but  from 
personal  interviews  with  the  proper  authorities  in  each  church.  In 
Roman  Catholic  parishes,  where  in  estimating  the  church  member- 
ship the  number  of  families  is  usually  multiplied  by  five,  we  have 
multiplied  by  three  in  order  to  make  it  more  just  to  combine  the 
estimates  with  the  figures  for  the  Protestant  churches,  which  do  not 
enroll  as  members  of  the  church  all  those  of  Protestant  families.  The 
above  table  shows  that  over  one-half  of  the  persons  ten  years  old  and 
over  in  the  rural  sections  of  these  four  counties  are  not  directly  con- 
nected with  their  rural  churches.  While  this  fact  is  by  no  means  a 
measure  of  the  total  influence  exerted  by  these  churches,  it  at  least 
suggests  that  they  have  a  rather  insecure  grip  upon  a  majority  of  the 
population. 

3.     Classification  of  the  Church  Membership. 

Classifying  the  members  of  these  churches  according  to  sex,  we 
find  that  43.2%  are  males  and  56.8%,  females.  In  population,  the 
four  counties  surveyed  contain  about  as  many  males  (50.2%)  as  fe- 
males. The  good  proportion  of  males  in  the  membership  of  the 
churches  is  probably  due  to  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of  Men- 

40 


nonite,  Brethren,  and  Lutheran  churches,  with  their  very  commendable 
emphasis  upon  family  and  community  religion.  In  these  churches, 
considered  by  themselves,  the  proportion  of  male  members  is  46.6%  ; 
whereas  in  the  membership  of  all  the  other  churches  only  42.2%  are 
males. 

A  classification  of  the  church  members  according  to  their  economic 
status  shows  very  clearly  that  the  country  church  is  not  winning  the 
tenant  farmer  to  the  same  extent  that  it  is  winning  the  owner.  Of  the 
farm  operators  in  the  four  counties  33.6%  are  tenants  and  65.6%  are 
owners,  while  of  the  farmers  on  the  church  rolls  only  13.4%  are  tenants 
and  86.6%  are  owners.  These  comparisons  are  made  for  each  county 
in  the  following  table : 


County 

Fan 
Per  cent. 
Owners 

Tiers 

Per  cent. 
Tenants 

29.9 
27.7 
38.0 
38.6 
33.6 

Church 
Per  cent. 
Owners 

85.5 
92.3 
86.1 
81.5 
86.6 

Members 
Per  cent. 
Tenants 

Allen  

70.1 
72.3 
62.0 
61.4 
65.6 

14  5 

Defiance  

n 

Hancock  

139 

Seneca    

18  5 

AH  4  counties 

13.4 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  tenantry  is  growing  throughout  the  four 
counties,  this  real,  though  perhaps  unconscious,  discrimination  on  the 

The  Farmers'  or  tde  Farm  Owners'  Church 


Of 
Farm  Ohe»*a^o^s 


Of 

ChurcK    Members 


33.6% 

Favm  Owner 


are 

Tenant*        13.4-% 

HI    Farm  Tenant 


Raor  counties  in 
Nortii  we  stern   Ol^io 


Ohio  nural  Life    borve*^ 


41 


part  of  the  rural  churches  against  the  tenant  farmer  is  a  matter  of 
grave  concern.  It  must  stop,  if  the  churches  are  to  exempHfy  the 
Christian  ideal  of  service  to  all  men,  especially  to  those  who  need  it 
most.  The  tenant  needs  the  help  of  the  church  more  than  the  owner. 
Unless  the  rural  churches  of  Northwestern  Ohio  make  a  well-directed 
effort  to  minister  to  all  within  their  reach,  especially  the  tenant  farmers, 
they  will  become  more  and  more  the  churches  of  that  class  which  is 
better  able  to  support  them,  in  this  case,  the  owning  class. 

4.     Status  of  the  Churches. 

Considering  the  churches  of  the  four  counties  together,  38.1%  show 
an  increase  in  membership  in  the  past  ten  years,  27.7%  are  standing 
still,  and  34.2%  are  losing  ground.  Comparing  the  churches  in  the 
open  country  with  those  located  in  villages  of  more  than  100  people, 
we  find  that  of  the  former  28.2%  are  growing,  34.9%  are  just  hold- 
ing their  own,  and  36.9%  are  declining;  while  of  the  latter  53.0% 
are  increasing,  17.0%  are  stationary,  and  30.0%  are  decreasing.  The 
following  table  compares  the  counties  in  these  respects  and  shows 
how  the  country  churches  especially  have  lost : 


County 


T-,  i.    /-        •      I  Per  cent.  Standing       Per  cent.  Losing 

Per  cent.  Growing  I  g^jjj  ^^^^^^^^ 


Allen  

Defiance  , 

Hancock  

Seneca    

All  4  counties. 


Coun- 
try. 


38.2 

30.8 

18.7 

;  35.3 

'  28.2 


Vil- 
lage 


64.1 
30.7 
51.9 
47.6 
53.0 


Comb. 


52.1 
30.8 
29.1 
42.1 
38.1 


Coun- 
try. 


20.6 
38.4 
38.9 
41.2 
34.9 


Vil- 
lage 


Comb. 


7.7 
23.1 
18.5 
28.6 
17.0 


13.7 
34.6 
32.6 

34.2 
27.7 


Coun- 
try. 


41.2 
30.8 
42.4 
23.5 
36.9 


Vil- 
lage 

28.2 
46.2 
29.6 
23.8 
30.0 


Comb. 


34.2 
34.6 
38.3 
23.7 
34.2 


The  alarming  fact  that  from  two-thirds  to  three-fourths  (71.8%) 
of  the  country  churches  in  these  four  counties  are  either  standing  still 
or  losing  ground  is  one  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  cause  every  Christian 
in  Northwestern  Ohio  to  stop  and  think.  What  are  the  causes  of  this 
arrest  and  decline? 

5.     Causes  of  Church  Decline  in  the  Open  Country. 

(o)  A  decreasing  rural  population.  As  noted  before  (Page  17), 
there  has  been  a  5.5%  decrease  in  the  rural  population  of  the  four 
counties  for  the  decade  from  1900  to  1910.  This  drift  of  the  people 
away  from  the  farms  has  of  course  added  to  the  burdens  of  the  country 
churches,  and  hastened  their  decline.  But  there  are  other  causes  that 
must  be  included  in  any  adequate  explanation  of  the  failure  of  such 
a  large  proportion  of  the  rural  churches  to  grow  and  prosper. 

(b)  Inefficient  leadership.     The  success  of  any  church  very  largely 

42 


Rural    Church    JJccline 
in    Northwestern    Ohio 


Of   |oo 

vilUge 

CUorchcs 


Of  |ifq 
churches 


are  not 


Four  counties 


Gfrowing 

Ohio  Rura\  Life  Survev/ 


depends  upon  the  ability  and  training  of  its  pastor.  The  efficiency  of 
their  leaders,  then,  affords  us  a  very  satisfactory  clue  to  the  growth 
and  decline  of  the  country  churches.  One  possible  measure  of  the 
efficiency  of  church  leaders  is  the  degree  of  their  scholastic  prepar- 
ation for  their  work.  Other  things  being  equal,  a  well  educated  min- 
ister is  more  uniformly  successful  with  a  church  than  a  poorly  edu- 
cated minister.  Our  survey,  at  least,  would  seem  to  confirm  such  a 
statement.  In  the  four  counties  covered  by  this  report,  29.5%  of  those 
rural  churches  served  by  ministers  who  have  had  no  scholastic  train- 
ing beyond  the  high  school  are  increasing;  while  of  those  served  by 
ministers  who  have  had  more  than  a  high  school  education  46%  are 
growing.  The  rural  churches  served  by  ministers  of  college  or  semi- 
nary training  constitute  67.2%  of  the  total  number  of  rural  churches 
in  the  four  counties.  This  is  a  goodly  proportion,  and  we  would  ex- 
pect more  than  46%  of  them  to  be  in  a  growing  and  prospering  con- 

43 


dition.  That  such  is  not  the  case  is  due,  we  beheve,  to  the  hindering 
action  of  another  determining  factor  in  the  efficiency  of  church  leaders. 
To  an  analysis  of  that  factor,  we  will  now  turn. 

(c)  A  non-resident  ministry.  We  refer  to  the  residence  of  min- 
isters outside  their  parishes.  Even  an  able  and  well  trained  minister, 
if  he  does  not  live  within  his  parish,  cannot  give  to  his  church  ade- 
quate direction.  Churches  do  not  thrive  on  absent  treatment.  There- 
fore, when  we  say,  on  the  basis  of  our  investigation,  that  66.6%  of 
the  churches  in  the  villages  and  open  country  of  the  four  counties 
surveyed  have  non-resident  ministers,  we  have  a  sure  clue  to  their 
decline.  At  the  time  the  Survey  was  made,  5%  of  the  churches  were 
without  a  pastor,  leaving  only  28.4%  that  were  being  served  by  resi- 
dent ministers.  And  yet  of  this  28.4%  having  a  resident  ministry, 
43.9%  were  growing,  while  of  the  66.6%  having  a  non-resident  minis- 
try only  29.6%  w^ere  growing.  These  results  show  that  inadequate 
leadership,  due  to  non-resident  pastorates,  is  the  cause  of  much  of 
the  decline  in  the  rural  churches.  The  good  effect  of  a  resident  min- 
istry upon  the  growth  of  the  church  is  shown  by  the  experience  of 
the  Riley  Creek  Baptist  Church,  in  Orange  Township,  Hancock 
County.     Its  pastor  writes  as   follows :     "I  am  the  first  pastor  who 


RILEY   BAPTIST   THURCII,   ORANGE  TOWNSHIP 
HANCOCK  COUNTY 

44 


\\\e    Absentee    Minister 
and 

Cnurcn      E-fficiencv/ 
XS8    cKurches 


With 

non-resident 
minister 


resident 
m«nister 


70M 
% 


\ [  Growing 

Four  counties  m 

IMorthwestevn 


5% 

witK  no 
m«n»ster 


Wot  Growing 


OKio 


Ohio  Tlora\ 


has  lived  on  the  field  among  my  congregation  in  its  forty-seven  years' 
history.  We  have  full-time  preaching  for  the  first  time  in  its  history. 
This  will,  I  believe,  explain  the  fact  that  this  church  is  growing.  Our 
membership  has  grown  from  103  to  145  in  two  years." 

(d)    The  circuit  system.     The  non-resident  pastorate,  however,  is 
but  the  necessary  accompaniment  of  that  method  of  church  adminis- 

45 


tration  known  as  the  "circuit  system."  According  to  this  system,  the 
time  and  energies  of  one  minister  are  divided  between  two  or  more 
congregations.  This  scheme  is  quite  prevalent  throughout  North- 
western Ohio.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  early  days  when  the  thinly 
settled  nature  of  the  country  made  it  a  means  admirably  adapted  to 
reaching  all  the  people  with  the  Gospel ;  but  with  the  immovableness 
of  long-established  custom  it  has  persisted  unto  the  present  day  in 
which  different  conditions  have  made  it,  not  a  help,  but  a  hindrance 
to  church  growth.  At  least,  the  findings  of  our  Survey  point  to  that 
conclusion.  In  the  table  that  follows,  the  relation  between  the  cir- 
cuit system  and  the  prosperity  of  the  rural  churches  in  the  four  coun- 
ties surveyed  is  graphically  portrayed: 


No. 

Per  cent. 
Growing 

Per  cent. 

Standing 

Still 

Per  cent. 
Losing 
Ground 

Churches    with    minister    on    full 
time  

Churches    with    minister    on    half 
time   

28 
69 
74 
82 
13 
14 

57.7 
43.1 
42.0 
28.2 
10.0 
22.2 

34.6 

24.1 
25.8 
33.8 
30.0 
0.0 

1.1 

32.8 

Churches   with   minister   on   third 
time   

32.2 

Churches  with  minister  on  fourth 
time  or  less 

38.0 

Churches     with     minister     having 
other  occupation   

60.0 

Churches  with  no  minister 

77.8 

Of  the  churches  that  are  not  upon  a  ministerial  circuit,  considerably 
over  one-half  (57.7%)  are  growing;  whereas  in  the  case  of  those 
that  are  joined  with  others  upon  a  ministerial  circuit,  the  percentage 
of  those  growing  runs  from  43.1  in  the  circuits  of  only  two  churches 
to  28.2  in  the  circuits  of  four  or  more  churches.  This  shows  that  the 
placing  of  two  or  more  churches  upon  the  shoulders  of  a  single  min- 
ister is  not  for  the  health  of  the  churches.  Ministerial  vivisection,  or 
the  division  of  a  minister's  time  and  energies  between  two  or  more 
parishes,  is  not  for  the  best  progress  of  Christianity  in  those  parishes. 
It  is  hard  for  a  part  of  a  man  to  do  a  whole  man's  work. 

(^)  Small-sized  churches.  But  any  abandonment  of  the  circuit  sys- 
tem would  have  to  be  accompanied  in  most  communities  by  a  local 
federation  of  the  churches.  Only  thus  could  the  ideal  be  carried  out 
of  having  each  church  administered  by  a  resident  pastor.  For  the 
fulfillment  of  this  ideal,  the  numerous  small  churches  would  have  to 
be  willing  to  federate,  that  is,  join  with  one  another  and  with  the 
larger  organizations  for  worship  and  for  work  in  bettering  their  com- 
munities.    They  will  be  made  more  willing  to  do  so  if  they  realize 

46 


I  he    L/ircuit    O^stem 

An   Obstacle  to   Church   Growth 
in    Northv/esterh    Ohio 
253   Churches 


% 

% 
rieo 

% 

r(00 

% 

-  ICO 

fo 

.<?o 

90 

-TO 

w.>h  i 

?0 

\Arith 

.80 

W.tK 

SO 

v^ak 

fo 

whole 
minister 

70 

'k 
1  inini'Vr 

70 
fco 

/3 

70 
to 

'/f  ,*      , 

or            / 

►  7o 
(>o 

fo 

yo 

yo 

^0 

<f  0 

IfO 

HO 

«*-• 

30 

■30 

3o 

•3o 

ao 

29 

^» 

ao 

10 

10 

10 

■>o 

^.3%        ^f'-no         ss.0%        iis% 
are   not     Growing 

poor  counties  Ohio  Rural  Life    ourve^ 

that  in  most  cases  a  small  church  in  communities  as  old  as  those  of 
Northwestern  Ohio  is  a  dying  church.  We  can  prove  this  fact.  The 
average  size  of  a  church  in  the  communities  studied  is  87  members, 
ranging  from  66  in  Defiance  County  to  98  in  Allen  County.  The 
following  table  shows  that  more  than  one-third  (36.1%)  of  the  rural 
churches  of  the  four  counties  are  small,  that  is,  have  a  membership 
less  than  50: 

Percent  of  churches  having  from       1 —  24  members,  11.6%. 

Percent  of  churches  having  from    25 —  49  members,  24.5%. 

Percent  of  churches  having  from    20 —  99  members,  32.6%, 

Percent  of  churches  having  from  100 — 149  members,  14.3%. 

Percent  of  churches  having  from  150 —   .  .  members,  17.0%. 
The  bearing  of  these   figures  upon  church  growth  and   decline  is 
shown  in  the  following  table : 


Where  the  membership  is 

Per  cent,  of  Churches  Growing 

From      1  to     24 

0.0 

"       25  to    49 

20.3 

"       50  to    99 

37.3 

"      100  to  149 

60.6 

"     150  up 

73.7 

47 


NEED  FOR  FEDERATION 

The    Vva^  of    Salivation  for   Omall   Lhurches 
Of  churcl^es   willi  a  memtership  of  > 

if.rJess  a^-'KJ  50-99  lOO-Iti^  /50  or  over. 

0.0%  cZo.^%  37.3%  €0.h%  73.1% 

are      Growing 

Four    Counties    in 

Northwestern    OK  10  Ohio    Rural    Life    borvew 

Over  one-third  of  the  churches  have  a  membership  of  less  than  50, 
and  over  three-fourths  (79.7%)  of  these  are  losing  ground.  Surely 
this  is  a  crying  call  for  the  adoption  of  some  workable  plan  of  feder- 
ation. The  large  church  is  more  efficient  as  a  working  force  than  the 
small  church.  The  continuance  of  any  large  number  of  unfederated 
small  churches  in  such  a  thickly  settled  region  as  Northwestern  Ohio 
will  mean  the  continuance  of  rural  church  decline  throughout  the 
section. 

(/)  Over-churching.  In  another  place  (Page  39),  we  have  re- 
ferred to  the  problem  raised  by  the  over-crowding  of  churches  in  the 
counties  surveyed.  We  mention  it  here  again,  because  of  its  bearing 
upon  the  question  of  rural  church  arrest  and  decline.  The  fact  that 
there  are  too  many  churches  in  the  territory  surveyed  must  be  taken 
account  of  in  reckoning  the  causes  that  have  led  to  their  decreasing 
efficiency.  In  the  township  where  there  are  from  one  to  four  churches, 
27.8%  of  the  churches  are  decreasing;  where  as  in  the  townships 
having  five  or  more  churches,  36.2%  of  the  churches  are  declining. 
Like  the  trees  of  a  forest,  churches  must  not  be  planted  so  thickly 
together  that  they  interfere  with  one  another's  growth. 

(g)  Sectarianism.  Over-churching,  however,  is  but  a  symptom, 
Its  root  lies  in  sectarianism.  This  is  very  evident  in  Northwestern 
Ohio.  In  the  rural  section  of  the  four  counties  surveyed,  there  are  at 
least  27  denominations  represented,  listed  as  follows: 

48 


Denominations.  No.  of  Churches. 

Apostolic  Holiness 1 

Baptist  Bodies: 

Baptist   (Northern  Convention)    7 

Free-Will  Baptist 1 

Missionary  Baptist 1 

Primitive  Baptist   2 

Brethren 12 

Catholic  ( Roman)    16 

Christian    11 

Christian  Union   4 

Church  of  God 5 

Congregational    2 

Disciples  of  Christ 7 

Evangelical  Association    22 

Lutheran    30 

Mennonite  Bodies : 

Defenseless  Mennonite   1 

Mennonite  (General  Conference) 4 

Old  Mennonite  2 

Reformed  Mennonite 1 

Methodist  Bodies : 

Free  Methodist 2 

German  Methodist  Episcopal 2 

Methodist  Episcopal   74 

Methodist  Protestant 13 

Presbyterian    12 

Reformed   15 

Union  Churches  3 

United  Brethren 43 

United  Brethren  ( Radical ) 9 

Universalist 2 

Denominational  prejudice  exists  in  all  of  the  communities  studied, 
and  in  all  of  them  is  a  very  real  hindrance  to  a  more  active  co-operation 
among  the  churches.  In  20%  of  the  communities,  this  prejudice  was 
discovered  breaking  out  into  more  or  less  open  strife.  But  in  most 
places,  it  lies  beneath  the  surface.  Many  influences  are  at  work 
reducing  its  strength.  The  township  Sunday  School  picnics  (Page 
22),  the  meetings  of  the  county  and  township  Sunday  School  Asso- 
ciations, occasional  union  services  and  evangelistic  campaigns  in  the 

49 


villages,  united  action  against  the  saloon — all  these  are  encouraging 
evidences  of  a  dawning  sense  of  co-operation  among  the  churches.  We 
believe  that  these  co-operative  efiforts  are  the  signal  that  relief  is  coming 
to  those  places  where  the  progress  of  God's  Kingdom  is  now  blocked 
by  sectarianism.  This  relief  will  take  the  form  of  a  federation  among 
the  local  churches  on  the  basis  of  a  common  service  to  the  entire  com- 
munity. Then,  the  present  decline  in  the  efficiency  of  the  country 
churches  will  be  checked. 

{h)  Failure  to  serve  the  entire  community.  For  most  of  the  causes 
of  the  arrest  and  decline  among  the  rural  churches  of  Northwestern 
Ohio  which  we  have  thus  far  mentioned — non-resident  ministers,  the 
circuit  system,  overchurching,  sectarianism — have  their  root  in  a  fail- 
ure on  the  part  of  the  church  to  serve  the  entire  community.  Too 
many  churches  have  been  founded  for  the  purpose  not  of  advancing 
all  the  interests  of  the  whole  community,  but  of  promoting  what  have 
been  very  narrowly  called  the  "spiritual  interests"  of  a  few  individuals. 
Built  upon  such  a  slim  foundation,  it  is  no  wonder  that  many  of  them 
are  falling  down  or  toppling  over.  A  broader  and  more  Christian 
interpretation  of  the  meaning  of  "spiritual  interests"  is  needed.  The 
churches  must  recognize  that  all  the  healthy  interests  of  a  people,  the 
problems  of  their  economic,  social,  and  educational  welfare,  as  well 
as  those  of  the  church  organization  itself,  are  spiritual  and  have  a  deep 
religious  significance.  Because  of  this  fact,  the  rural  churches  should 
consider  it  as  a  regular  part  of  their  work  to  promote  better  farming, 
better  social  advantages,  and  better  country  schools.  And  they  should 
do  this  for  all  the  people  of  the  community,  the  tenants  and  the  farm- 
hands as  well  as  the  owners  (See  Page  41).  The  rural  churches 
of  Northwestern  Ohio  should  seek  to  enthuse  with  religious  dynamic 
every  movement  of  rural  advance.  There  is  room  for  them  to  show  a 
more  cordial  sympathy  toward  every  institution  working  for  better 
farming  conditions.  The  experience  of  the  Congregational  Church  at 
Comer,  Allen  County,  may  be  cited  as  an  illustration  of  our  meaning. 
"Two  years  ago,"  says  its  pastor,  "we  opened  our  lecture  room  to  the 
Farmers'  Institute.  At  first  there  was  a  great  deal  of  opposition  to 
this.  However,  we  realized  that  we  were  here  for  the  community,  to 
serve  the  community,  so  we  threw  open  the  doors  and  invited  every- 
body. We  did  the  same  thing  last  year.  We  find  it  has  helped  many, 
and  has  not  done  the  church  any  harm."  This  church  is  reaching  out 
and  showing  an  interest  in  the  ordinary  life  of  its  neighborhood.  Such 
efiforts  on  the  part  of  all  the  rural  churches  of  Northwestern  Ohio 
would  soon  federate  them  in  every  place  where  at  present  an  over- 

50 


churched  condition  prevails.  A  common  service  for  the  welfare  of 
their  respective  communities  would  soon  bind  the  churches  together 
in  a  federation  of  Christian  love  for  worship  and  work.-  With  this 
accomplished,  the  problem  of  rural  church  decline  would  be  solved. 

6.     Material  Equipment  of  the  Churches. 

Information  as  to  the  present  value  of  their  property  was  secured 
from  274  out  of  the  304  rural  churches  in  the  territory  surveyed.  The 
total  value  of  the  edifices  and  land  owned  by  these  churches  is  approxi- 
mately $982,400.  Of  the  Protestant  denominations,  the  twelve  that 
have  the  largest  investment  in  the  four  counties  are  as  follows : 

Methodist  Episcopal $239,600 

United  Brethren   119,000 

Evangelical  Association  99,200 

Lutheran 91,200 

Reformed   88,100 

Presbyterian    34,000 

Methodist  Protestant   31,000 

Christian 30,100 

Congregational 26,000 

Brethren  23,800 

General  Conference  Mennonites 23,000 

Baptist 20,100 

The  usual  type  of  building  is  that  of  a  one-room  structure.  Out  of 
247  churches  reporting, 

169  have  one  room  each, 
42     "      two  rooms    " 
23     "     three     " 
5     "     four      " 
8     "     five  or  more  rooms  each. 

A  one-room  church  building  cannot  be  regarded  as  adequate  to  serve 
as  a  community  center.  As  the  consolidation  of  rural  schools  will 
result  in  more  commodious  school  buildings,  so  the  federation  of 
churches  will  result  in  church  edifices  more  worthy  of  their  high  pur- 
pose and  better  designed  for  community  service.  A  few  such  buildings 
already  exist.  A  flourishing  country  church  in  Bath  Township,  Allen 
County,  has  a  ten-room  building  valued  at  $10,000. 

In  the  matter  of  heating,  60%  of  the  churches  have  stoves,  the 
remaining  40%  being  favored  with  furnaces.     As  to  artificial  lighting 

51 


39%  use  gasoline,  34%  oil,  14%  acetylene,  12%  electricity,  and  1% 
gas.  It  is  commendable  that  86%  of  the  buildings  are  in  good  repair, 
and  that  76%  of  the  grounds  surrounding  the  churches  are  in  a  well- 
kept  condition.  There  is  practically  no  attempt,  however,  to  beautify 
the  church  lawns  with  flower-beds.  The  country  church  should  by 
all  means  provide  a  shelter  for  the  farmer's  team.  But  in  all  four 
counties  only  7%  of  the  country  churches  have  horse-sheds  upon  their 
grounds. 

7.     The  Churches  at  Work. 

(a)  Worship.  In  their  work,  all  the  churches  lay  the  greatest 
stress  upon  their  services  of  public  worship.  This  is  very  commend- 
able, as  the  assembling  of  the  people  for  the  worship  of  God  is  surely 
fundamental  to  the  welfare  of  organized  religion.  One-half  (50.2%) 
of  the  rural  churches  in  the  four  counties,  however,  have  only  two 
preaching  services  per  month.  About  one-third  (32.7%)  have  one 
service  every  Sunday.  Only  8.2%  have  a  larger  number  of  services. 
The  undue  multiplication  of  preaching  services,  however,  is  not 
desirable.  Their  number  must  be  governed  by  the  needs  of  the  com- 
munity. In  most  open-country  churches,  one  public  service  every  week 
is  perhaps  all  that  is  advisable,  for  the  welfare  of  the  church  and  for 
the  religious  nurture  of  the  people. 

A  constant  good  attendance  at  its  services  of  public  worship  is  surely 
one  of  the  signs  of  a  prospering  church;  just  as  a  falling-oil  of  the 
same  in  a  church  located  in  a  well-populated  region  is  an  unmistakable 
mark  of  its  decline.  It  is  almost  impossible,  however,  to  secure  reliable 
statistics  as  to  the  attendance  at  church  services.  Very  few  country 
churches  make  any  count  or  keep  any  record  of  the  number  attending. 
The  estimates  of  ministers  on  this  point  are  very  apt  to  be  uncon- 
sciously exaggerated.  Such  estimates,  however,  were  secured  by  our 
investigators  from  the  pastors  of  278  rural  churches  in  the  four 
counties  surveyed.  It  might  be  at  least  suggestive  of  a  trend  to  com- 
pare the  total  of  these  estimates  of  attendance  with  the  total  seating 
capacity  of  the  same  churches.  The  estimates  included  have  been 
those  for  the  best  attended  service  at  each  church  in  the  course  of  a 
month.  When  the  comparison  is  made,  it  appears  that  out  of  a  total 
of  approximately  60,000  seats,  only  21,321  are  occupied  at  any  one 
service  on  an  average  Sunday.  Stating  the  same  fact  difi^erently,  we 
may  say  that  on  an  average  Sunday  at  least  65%  of  the  seats  in  the 
rural  churches  of  Northwestern  Ohio  are  vacant.  Although  the  result 
is  based  on  estimates  which  are  open  to  error,  yet  we  feel  that  it  does 

52 


53 


not  do  injustice  to  the  situation  as  a  whole.  It  is  another  sign  of  the 
loosening  grip  upon  a  majority  of  the  people  about  which  we  had 
occasion  to  speak  in  dealing  with  the  proportion  of  the  population  in 
the  churches  (Page  40).  It  is  another  call  for  co-operative,  feder- 
ated action  on  the  part  of  the  rural  churches.  Only  as  they  are  willing 
to  present  a  united  front  can  they  hope  successfully  to  win  the 
unchurched  about  their  very  doors. 

(b)  Sunday  Schools.  The  rural  Sunday  School  plays  a  more 
important  part  in  the  life  of  the  church  than  does  the  Sunday  School 
of  the  city.  This  is  especially  true  where  preaching  services  come  only 
once  or  twice  a  month.  The  Sunday  School  services  held  every  week 
give  continuity  to  church  life.  The  rural  Sunday  School  is  an  institu- 
tion for  old  and  young  alike  and  generally  includes  all  active  church 
members. 

(1)  Number  and  Distribution. 
A  total  of  291  churches  in  Northwestern  Ohio  were  examined  with 
reference  to  the  Sunday  School.  Of  these,  25  were  found  that  had 
no  school,  leaving  the  total  of  churches  with  Sunday  Schools  at  266. 
One  school  was  found  existing  independently  of  any  church  organiza- 
tion. Adding  this  in,  we  have  a  total  of  267  rural  Sunday  Schools 
as  the  basis  for  this  report.  Of  these  schools,  157  (58.8%)  are  in 
the  open  country,  and  110  (41.2%)  are  in  villages  of  less  than  2,500 
people.    Their  distribution  by  counties  is  as  follows : 


County- 

Country 

Village 

Total 

Allen    

43 
31 
61 
22 
157 

41 
13 
27 
29 
110 

84 

Defiance    

44 

Hancock   

88 

Seneca   

51 

All  four  counties 

267 

(2)  Enrollment. 

The  total  enrollment  of  146  of  the  Sunday  Schools  in  the  open  coun- 
try is  10,761  or  73  members  per  school.  In  108  of  the  village  Sunday 
Schools  there  are  enrolled  14,821  or  an  average  of  136  per  school.  On 
this  bases  the  total  enrollment  of  all  the  rural  Sunday  Schools  does 
not  exceed  30,000  or  35.4%  of  the  rural  population. 

(3)  Attendance. 

The  total  average  attendance  for  245  Sunday  Schools  reporting  is 
15,963,  being  an  average  of  65  per  school,  or  64.9%  of  the  average 
enrollment  for  each  school.    On  this  basis  the  number  of  pupils  present 

54 


on  an  average  Sunday  in  all  the  rural  Sunday  Schools  throughout  the 
four  counties  would  be  about  18,000.  Where  the  attendance  upon 
Sunday  School  is  exceptionally  well  maintained,  the  cause  is  usually 
that  of  parental  influence.  This  was  assigned  as  the  reason  for  an 
average  attendance  of  79.3%  of  its  enrollment  in  the  Sunday  School 
of  the  Pleasant  View  Church  of  the  Brethren,  Bath  Township,  Allen 
County.  The  success  of  the  Ebenezer  Mennonite  Sunday  School  in 
Richland  Township  of  the  same  county  likewise  enforces  the  same  fact. 
"Nearly  everybody,"  writes  the  pastor  of  the  church,  "comes  to  Sunday 
School ;  the  parents,  who  almost  without  exception  have  large  families, 
bring  their  children  regularly.  This  spirit  of  the  whole  family  going 
to  church  and  Sunday  School  and  belonging  to  it  is  a  great  factor." 
Both  of  these  Sunday  Schools,  it  may  be  remarked,  are  so  managed  as 
to  hold  the  sustained  interest  of  their  members.  Both  have  organized 
classes,  and  a  regular  teachers'  meeting.  But  unquestionably  the 
progress  of  these  schools,  as  of  every  Sunday  School,  rests  upon  a 
wholesome  development  of  family  religion. 

(4)  Equipment. 
In  the  matter  of  material  ecjuipment  the  majority  of  the  Sunday 
Schools  of  the  section  are  awake  to  the  need  of  bettering  their  condi- 
tion. Most  of  them  still  have  to  face  the  impossible  task  of  doing  their 
work  adequately  in  a  one-room  church  building.  But  it  is  encouraging 
to  note  that  one-fourth  of  the  schools  have  already  tried  to  remedy  the 


GRADUATES  IN  THE  STANDARD  COURSE  OF  TRAINING  FOR  TEACHERS, 
OLD  FORT  UNITED  BRETHREN  SUNDAY  SCHOOL,  SENECA  COUNTY 

55 


situation  by  providing  a  few  additional  rooms,  or  by  using  curtains 
and  screens  to  divide  off  portions  of  the  church  auditorium.  The 
problem,  however,  of  properly  equipping  the  rural  Sunday  Schools  for 
their  work  waits  for  its  solution  upon  the  federation  of  the  rural 
churches.  The  federation  of  the  Sunday  Schools  of  a  rural  community, 
however,  may  very  properly  pave  the  way  for  the  federation  of  its 
churches. 

(5)  Curriculum, 

Most  of  the  schools  are  ungraded.  The  course  of  study  is  generally 

the  Uniform  International  Lessons.  The  Graded  Lessons  have  been 

either  partially  or  wholly  adopted  in  15%  of  the  schools. 

(6)  Teachers. 

The  chief  obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  more  general  use  of  the  Graded 
Lessons  is  the  lack  of  well-trained  teachers.  This  difficulty,  however,  is 
gradually  becoming  less  and  less  prominent  through  the  growing  exten- 
sion of  the  teacher-training  movement.     Already,  special  classes  for 

Ihe    Dark    Lloud  of    Uommercialism 
Of  5^8  ckurch     SocUls 

held    during  /\    ^    ^ear 


are  money/-makmg  events 
Sl^ould  tne  cLrch  tu^  its    sopj^ort  ? 

poor    counties      in 

Northwesterri  Ohio  Ohio  T\ura\  Life   Sorwevj 

56 


the  training  of  teachers  have  been  organized  in  27%  of  the  schools. 
One  of  the  schools  that  has  been  very  successful  in  its  teacher-training 
work  is  the  Sunday  School  of  the  United  Brethren  Church  at  Old  Fort, 
Seneca  County.  At  the  time  the  survey  was  made,  this  school  had 
thirty-seven  graduates  in  the  standard  course  of  training  for  teachers, 
and  a  class  of  eleven  pursuing  their  third  year  of  study  in  an  advanced 
course. 

Of  all  the  teachers  in  the  Sunday  Schools  studied,  43.7%  are  men 
and  56.3%  are  women.    The  minister  teaches  in  23.3%  of  the  schools. 

(c)  Social  Activities.  Social  events  under  the  auspices  of  the 
church  are  usually  provided  by  organizations  of  one  kind  or  another. 
The  Sunday  School  would  stand  first  in  any  list  of  such  organizations. 
Its  annual  picnic  is  for  many  country  churches  the  principal  social 
event  of  the  year.  During  the  year  previous  to  the  time  of  the  Survey, 
47%  of  the  rural  Sunday  Schools  in  the  four  counties  had  picnics. 
Other  social  happenings,  such  as  class  socials,  suppers,  Christmas 
festivals,  etc.,  were  enjoyed  by  51.5%  of  the  schools.  In  only  19% 
of  the  Sunday  Schools  was  the  passing  year  uncheered  by  any  social 
pleasures.  A  growing  proportion  of  the  social  life  of  the  Sunday 
Schools  is  being  furnished  by  organized  classes,  which  combine  Bible 
study  on  Sunday  with  social  and  cultural  meetings  during  the  week. 
It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  nearly  one-fourth  (23.3%)  of  the  rural 
churches  in  the  section  surveyed  have  classes  of  this  type. 

Besides  the  Sunday  School,  various  other  organizations  within  the 
church  minister  to  the  social  needs  of  its  people.  The  following  table 
classifies  all  such  societies  in  the  four  counties  according  to  their  num- 
ber and  their  social  activities : 


Name 

Number 
of  Organ- 
izations 

Per  cent, 
giving 
Socials 

Number 
of  Socials 
reported 

Per  cent. 

of  pay 
Socialsf 

to  total 
number  of 

Socials 

No.  of 
Churches 
without 
Organiza- 
tions of 
this  kind 

Young     People's 

Societies 106 

Women's  Societies         205 

Men's  Societies 12 

Junior     Organiza- 
tions  '         23 

Other  Societies...             4 
Totals 350 

53.7 
60.4 
58.3 

43.4 
50.0 
57.1 

176* 

362* 

14 

32 

8 

598 

47.1* 

69.8* 

0.0 

56.2 

100.0 

60.5 

178 
118 
277 

272 

*Seneca  County  omitted  in  this  calculation. 

fBy  "pay  socials"  we  mean  those  given  to  raise  money  for  the  church. 

57 


y^ 

^. 

> 

w     '  '■ 

■1 

ilttrti^ 

I^B 

.  A,*^,*.    ~._.^„ 

«*._  . 

;-tti  - 

„- 

- 

AN     OLD     PARSOxXAGE     TURNED     INTO     A     PARISH 

HOUSE  FOR  SOCIAL  ACTIVITIES,  METHODIST 

EPISCOPAL    CHURCH,    BLUFFTON, 

ALLEN   COUNTY 

Ninety-six  rural  churches  in  the  four  counties  have  no  societies  or 
organizations  of  any  kind,  except  possibly  a  Sunday  School.  The 
above  table  reveals  the  distressing  fact  that  considerably  over  one-half 
(60.5%)  of  the  social  opportunities  furnished  by  these  various  church 
societies  are  colored  and  cheapened  by  commercialism.  If  the  churches 
are  to  win  the  respect  of  all  within  their  reach,  this  disgraceful  stooping 
to  buy  their  support  must  cease. 

The  small  number  (12)  of  men's  organizations  listed  in  the  above 
table  is  very  noticeable,  especially  when  contrasted  with  the  large  num- 
ber (205)  of  women's  societies.  Here  is  an  open  door  of  opportunity 
before  the  rural  churches  of  the  four  counties.  Some  of  the  churches 
have  already  entered  this  door  through  the  organization  of  the  male 
Bible  classes  of  their  Sunday  Schools.  The  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  Bluffton,  Allen  County,  with  a  membership  of  340,  has  its 
men  organized  in  a  Methodist  Brotherhood.  In  its  work  for  boys,  this 
church  has  two  clubs,  the  "Brotherhood  of  David"  and  the  "Knights 
of  King  Arthur,"  both  of  which,  to  quote  the  pastor  of  the  church, 
"have  accomplished  almost  miracles  in  character  building."    In  view  of 

58 


these  efforts  to  reach  the  men  and  boys,  it  is  not  surprising  to  note 
that  in  three  years  the  male  membership  of  this  church  increased  8% 
over  the  female.  This  was  in  a  village  church.  The  churches  of  the 
open  country,  however,  face  equal  opportunities  in  the  way  of  work 
for  men.  The  comparatively  small  number  of  distinctly  farmers' 
organizations,  already  referred  to  on  page  24  of  this  pamphlet,  give 
to  the  open  country  churches  of  this  section  of  the  State  a  clear  field 
of  eft'ort  which  they  should  not  be  slow  in  occupying. 

8.     Church  Finances. 

Statistics  concerning  finances  were  secured  from  169  country 
churches  and  112  village  churches  in  the  four  counties.  The  following 
table  shows  the  total  annual  budget  in  both  groups,  considered  both 
severally  and  together,  and  its  distribution  among  the  various  items  of 
church  expense: 


Total   Annual    Budget 

Per  cent,  for  Ministers'  Salaries 

Per  cent,  for  Current  Expenses. 

Per  cent,  for  Sunday  School 
Expenses     

Per  cent,  for  Missions  and  Be- 
nevolences     


Country 
Churches 


$67,757 
55.6 

15.5 

7.5 
21.4 


Village 
Churches 


$78,494 
50.7 
24.2 

17.5 


Both 


$146,251 
53.0 
20.1 

7.6 

19.3 


Combining  the  first  three  items  in  the  above  table — ministers'  sal- 
aries, current  expenses  and  Sunday  School  expenses — under  the  gen- 
eral designation  of  "local  expenses,"  we  may  compare  the  amount  of 
money  spent  by  the  churches  for  self-maintenance  with  the  amount 
given  away  for  missionary  and  charitable  purposes,  as  follows : 


For   Local    Expenses 

Per  cent,  of  Total  Budget 

For  Missions  and  Benevolences 
Per  cent,  of  Total  Budget 


Country 
Churches 


$53,237 
78.6 

$14,475 
21.4 


Village 
Churches 

$64,784 
82.5 

$13,755 
17.5 


Both 


$118,021 

80.7 

$28,230 

19.3 


59 


now  tne  rural  churches 
in  Northwestern    OUo 
end  tneir   mcome. 


S|, 


Four  Counili^s  OKiol^grai  L\fe  Surve*j 

These  tables  show  that  the  rural  churches  of  the  four  counties  give 
away  about  one-fifth  (19.3%)  of  their  total  income.  The  churches  of 
the  open  country  do  better  in  this  respect  than  the  churches  in  the 
villages,  the  former  giving  away  21.4%  of  their  income,  the  latter 
17.5%. 


60 


7S^ 

ALLEN  CO..  OHIO 


Kev|      to     IA^ps 

X  Mmi&ter's  vesidence      S  CKorch  with  residient  mmt^fer    O  Chorth  wrrt\out  resrierrt  mtmstcr 
P  GiorcK  wifhoutmrniiter  d  Abinaonea  cKui<ch  NotT\e«rl\s   ilxiiciW  membershih  of  chorth 

Inc     incre^sitx^  ;  Dec,  decreasing  ■,     St,  stat«en*rv^ 


B  Baptist 

Br  Brethren    (German   Baptist) 
BSA  Brothers  Society  of  America 
C  Christian 
Ca  Catholic  (Roman) 
Co  Congregational 
CP  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
CS  Christian  Science 
CU  Christian  Union 

D  Disciples 
DM  Defenseless   Mennonite 
DNP  Disciples,   Non-Progressive 

E  Episcopal 
EvA  Evangelical  Association 
EvL  "  Lutheran 

F  Friends  (Orthodox) 
FM  Free  Methodist 
FWB  Free  Will  Baptist 

G  Church  of  God 
GME  German  M.  E. 
H  Apostolic  Holiness 


HF  Friends   (Hicksite) 
L  Lutheran 
LDS  Latter-Day  Saints 
M  Mennonite 
MB  Missionary  Baptist 
ME  Methodist  Episcopal 
MP  Methodist  Protestant 

N  Nazarenes 
OM  Old  Mennonite 

P  Presbyterian 
PB  Primitive  Baptist 

R  Reformed 
RM  Reformed  Mennonite 
RUB  Radical  U.  B. 
S  Saints 
U  Union 
UB  United  Brethren 
UP  United  Presbyterian 
Uv  Universalist 
USS  Union  Sunday  School 
WM  Wesleyan  Methodist 


61 


xx><x 


QDDDgl-DX 


SENECA  CO.,  OHIO 


62 


HANCOCK  CO., 
OHIO 


9.     The  Minister. 

The  total  number  of  ministers  preaching  in  the  four  counties  is  163. 
Of  these  ministers: 

25.7%  serve  one  church. 

34.2%  serve  two  churches. 

25.0%  serve  three  churches. 

15.1%  serve  four  or  more  churches. 
A  little  over  one-third  of  the  ministers  with  only  one  church  have 
other  occupations. 

A  minister  can  have  his  home  in  only  one  community.  But  since 
74.3%  of  the  ministers  at  work  in  the  four  counties  preach  in  more 
than  one  place,  it  is  evident  that  the  vast  majority  of  the  ministers  live 
at  a  distance  from  most  of  their  parishes.  The  great  waste  of  time, 
energy,  and  money  involved  in  the  travelling  about  of  ministers,  many 
of  them  going  along  the  same  road  or  crossing  one  another's  path,  may 
be  realized  by  the  reader  if  he  will  glance  at  the  maps  on  the  preceding 
pages  or  scan  the  following  table : 

63 


34.6%  of  the  churches  have  ministers  living  less  than  2  mi.  from  Ch. 
30.9%  of  the  churches  have  ministers  living    2-5     mi.  from  Ch. 
25.3%  of  the  churches  have  ministers  living    6-10  mi.  from  Ch. 

6.4%  of  the  churches  have  ministers  living  11-20  mi.  from  Ch. 

1.6%  of  the  churches  have  ministers  living  21-30  mi.  from  Ch. 

1.2%  of  the  churches  have  ministers  living  31  or  more  mi.  from  Ch. 

The  I.ord's  money  is  being  squandered  through  our  sectarian  selfish- 
ness which  makes  the  circuit  system  a  necessity.  Federation  of 
churches  in  all  over-churched  communities  would  eliminate  most  of 
this  waste. 

In  the  matter  of  salary,  four-fifths  of  the  ministers  receive  less  than 
$1,000  per  annum.  The  following  table  shows  the  distribution  of 
salaries  among  145  of  the  rural  ministers  at  work  in  the  four  counties: 

14  (  9.5%)   receive  no  salary. 

7  (  4.7%)   receive  less  than  $300  annually. 

6  (   4.0%)   receive  from  $300  to  $    400  annually. 

14  (  9.5%)  receive  from  $401  to  $  500  annually. 
17  (11.5%)  receive  from  $501  to  $  600  annually. 
25  (16.9%)  receive  from  $601  to  $  700  annually. 
24  (16.2%)   receive  from  $701  to  $    800  annually. 

15  (10.1%)  receive  from  $801  to^  $  900  annually. 
17  (11.5%)   receive  from  $901  to*  $1,000  annually. 

9  (  6.1%)   receive  $1,001  or  more  annually. 

The  table  shows  that  most  of  the  ministers  receive  from  five  hundred 
to  nine  hundred  dollars  per  year. 

The  scholastic  preparation  of  150  rural  ministers  in  the  four  counties 
is  shown  in  the  following  table : 

29  (19.3%)  have  had  only  a  common  school  education. 
20  (13.4%)  have  had  only  a  high  school  education. 
101  (67.3%)  have  had  more  than  a  high  school  education. 

The  table  shows  that  nearly  one-fifth  (19.3%)  of  the  ministers  have 
had  nothing  more  than  an  elementary  education,  and  that  nearly  one- 
third  (32.7%)  have  not  gone  in  their  schooling  beyond  the  high  school. 
That  the  man  with  more  training  commands  a  higher  salary  is  shown 
by  the  following  facts  about  the  ministers  whose  training  has  been 
given  in  the  preceding  table : 
Average  salary  of  ministers  with  only  common  school  training.  .  .$609 

Average  salary  of  ministers  with  only  high  school  training 664 

Average  salary  of  ministers  with  more  than  high  school  training.  .   771 

64 


Considering  all  of  the  rural  ministers  of  the  four  counties  together, 
their  average  salary  is  about  $700.  This  is  a  rather  low  figure  for  a 
section  of  the  State  as  prosperous  as  Northwestern  Ohio.  With  the 
coming  growth,  however,  of  the  principle  and  practice  of  federation 
among  its  churches,  we  can  confidently  expect  that  the  rural  ministers 
of  the  section  will  receive  a  more  adequate  compensation. 


65 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CONCLUSION  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS. 

The  first  result  of  this  investigation  should  be  general  prayer  tor  a 
religious  advance  in  Northwestern  Ohio.  Churches  with  only  one- 
third  of  their  sittings  filled,  ministers  three-fourths  of  whom  live  where 
they  do  not  preach  and  preach  where  they  do  not  live,  and  only  a 
minority  of  the  population  reached  by  the  gospel :  these  exhibit  the 
need  of  a  new  evangelism  in  Northwestern  Ohio. 

It  cannot  be  said,  however,  that  a  gospel  of  independence,  or  of 
merely  personal  religion,  is  the  need.  The  rural  churches  in  Ohio 
which  show  distinction  and  success  in  the  largest  number  are  well 
organized  churches.  The  task  of  the  pastor  and  of  the  "parish  priest" 
is  the  greatest  evangelism  in  Ohio.  These  churches  grow  the  most 
rapidly.  They  have  the  best  hold  upon  their  young  people.  They  have 
the  largest  number  of  families  in  their  membership.  They  show  every 
sign  of  a  strong  gospel  spirit  and  their  contributions  to  the  great  enter- 
prises of  the  church  at  home  and  abroad  are  the  largest. 

What  Northwestern  Ohio  needs  is  a  band  of  consecrated  young  men 
born  of  the  soil,  who  with  knowledge  and  sympathy  will  go  into  the 
country  to  live  as  pastors  with  country  people.  The  Lord's  flock  needs 
not  shouters,  but  shepherds.  There  has  been  too  much  emphasis  upon 
personality  and  independence,  and  it  has  dissolved  the  population  in  a 
diluted  individualism,  which  seeks  after  money,  personal  property  and 
personal  careers.  What  Northwestern  Ohio  needs  is  the  organization 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  under  the  leadership  of  Christian  pastors  who 
will  give  their  lives  to  the  people  and  live  not  in  the  town,  but  in  the 
country. 

Second.  Community  churches  are  needed.  These  are  the  unit  of 
measure  in  federation  and  union  of  Christian  forces.  They  can  be 
placed  at  selected  points  by  the  various  denominations,  each  one  select- 
ing an  important  centre,  where  it  has  leadership.  Every  community 
church  should  deal  with  the  needs  of  the  whole  people,  not  with  the 
emotional  satisfactions  of  "our  own  people." 

For  these  churches  adequate  buildings  must  be  erected  and,  of  course, 
resident  pastors  must  be  secured.  These  buildings  need  to  be  some- 
thing more  than  the  one-room  structure  which  prevails  in  these  rural 

66 


counties.  The  example  for  such  buildings  is  furnished  in  the  churches 
mentioned  in  the  text  which  have  rebuilt  and  extended  their  church 
houses  to  meet  the  modern  needs  of  country  people.  The  building  of 
houses  of  God  large  enough  to  make  a  home  for  the  Master  among 
his  people  in  the  country  is  the  same  process  by  which  the  farmer 
built  his  own  home  after  pioneer  days.  The  one-room  church  house 
in  the  country  is  as  inappropriate  to  modern  times  as  the  sod  house 
would  be  for  the  modern  farmer's  family.  It  is  as  ill  suited  to  the 
needs  of  Northwestern  Ohio  today,  when  the  farmers  are  prosperous 
and  cultivated  and  ambitious,  as  is  the  sickle  or  scythe  for  reaping  his 
crops,  or  the  ox  cart  for  transporting  his  family  from  the  farm  house 
to  the  church. 

The  community  church  in  all  parts  of  the  country  is  the  successful 
country  church.  It  survives  where  one-room  structures  with  occa- 
sional preaching  perish.  It  embodies  without  help  of  federations  the 
passionate  idealism  of  our  time  for  union  and  co-operation  in  religion. 
Without  discrediting  denominations  or  disowning  its  own  communion, 
the  community  church  ministers  to  all.  For  any  one  of  the  leading 
Protestant  denominations  can  successfully  minister  in  things  of  the 
spirit  to  all  the  people  of  the  community,  if  it  wall  minister  to  them 
in  all  their  needs  recreative,  educational,  social  and  humanitarian. 

Third.  It  is  astonishing  that  in  Northwestern  Ohio  the  condition 
of  common  schools  in  the  country  is  so  retarded.  It  is  probable  that 
this  backward  condition  of  schools  in  the  country  is  due  to  the  absence 
of  the  ministers,  who  live  not  in  the  country,  but  in  the  town,  in  so 
great  a  degree.  The  need  of  developing  the  schools  is  a  religious  need. 
The  centralization  and  the  consolidation  of  many  schools  and  the  set- 
ting up  of  a  higher  standard  for  all  the  country  schools  is  necessary, 
if  churches  of  a  higher  grade  are  to  live  in  the  country. 

We  must  not  forget  that  the  Protestant  church  perishes  among 
ignorant  people.  Where  the  people  cannot  maintain  an  educated  min- 
istry and  where  they  do  not  read  the  Bible  or  other  books  with  intelli- 
gence, there  the  Protestant  church  shortly  disappears.  In  our  day 
Protestantism  does  not  live  by  persecution,  but  its  maintenance  is 
dependent  upon  intelligence.  This  intelligence  must  be  possessed  by 
the  poorest  and  humblest.  The  only  way  to  bring  this  about  is  to 
elevate  the  standards  of  the  common  schools.  This  investigation  is  an 
exhibit  of  the  need  of  better  schools  throughout  Ohio. 

It  is  no  less  striking  that  Northwestern  Ohio  should  be  so  far  behind 
other  counties  of  the  State  in  which  consolidation  has  gone  far  for- 
ward, than  it  is  that  at  this  very  time  the  whole  State  of  Ohio  is  con- 

67 


sidering  legislation  for  a  better  school  system  in  all  counties.  Ministers 
of  religion  and  schoolmasters  should  fix  the  attention  of  all  the  people 
in  these  counties  upon  the  great  need  of  better  schools  in  the  country, 
for  by  the  education  of  country  people,  or  the  lack  of  it,  will  be 
determined  the  question  whether  Northwestern  Ohio  shall  remain 
American  in  the  future. 

Fourth.  The  greatest  danger  with  which  country  people  are  con- 
fronted in  Northwestern  Ohio  is  expressed  in  the  speculative  price  of 
land.  This  danger  is  really  a  peril  of  irreligion.  It  takes  the  form  of 
greed  for  money,  instead  of  land,  among  country  people.  There  are 
two  obvious  sources  of  this  speculation :  One  is  the  "easy  money" 
secured  by  the  farmer  from  the  oil  deposits ;  the  other  is  the  wave  of 
speculative  prices  which  has  now  come  to  Ohio  on  its  way  eastward 
from  Illinois.  The  form  of  farm  speculation  is  the  same  everywhere. 
It  tempts  the  farmer  by  a  high  capitalization  of  his  farm  to  sell  and 
move  out,  when  he  comes  to  see  the  low  income  of  the  farm. 

There  is  only  one  remedy  and  that  is,  to  train  the  farmer  by  every 
possible  means  to  secure  a  larger  product  from  the  land  and  a  much 
larger  profit.  Unless  the  farmer's  income  can  be  maintained  and 
increased  as  the  land  prices  increase,  he  will  inevitably  sell,  in  average 
instances.  This  process  it  is  that  weakens  the  growth  of  country 
communities.  ■    \  j     • 

Moreover,  the  development  of  the  churches  and  schools,  which  is 
necessary  as  years  pass,  will  be  paid  for  only  out  of  money  earned, 
never  out  of  money  borrowed,  and  as  the  higher  price  of  land  enables 
the  farmer  merely  to  borrow  more  money,  while  it  lays  upon  him 
heavier  overhead  charges,  it  has  the  effect  of  depressing  educational 
and  religious  institutions.  No  heavier  tax  can  come  to  churches  and 
schools  in  the  country  than  the  suddenly  increased  price  of  the  land. 

Co-operation  among  farmers  will  be  the  way,  and  there  is  no  other 
way  by  which  they  shall  maintain  themselves  in  the  country.  The 
present  independent  economic  and  social  life,  by  which  each  man  works 
for  himself,  will  be  the  death  of  the  American  stock  as  a  farming 
population.  We  can  only  hope  and  pray  and  teach  that  farmers  work 
together.  As  the  wants  of  country  people  increase  with  growing  intel- 
ligence they  will  come  in  contact  with  an  ever  higher  wall  of  necessity, 
and  two  alternatives  alone  are  left :  Either  to  sell  and  leave  the  country, 
or  to  remain  in  the  country  and  co-operate.  Therefore,  teachers  and 
ministers  of  religion  should  advocate  agricultural  co-operation.  It  is 
fundamental  to  the  maintaining  of  an  American  stock  on  the  land. 

The  permanence  of  the  American  stock  is  the  great  problem.     The 

68 


country  churches  in  Ohio  are  American  churches.  That  is,  they  are 
Protestant,  independent,  self-governing.  They  embody  American 
ideals,  the  best  ideals  the  world  has  ever  conceived  of.  They  are  a  part 
of  Northwestern  European  civilization^  the  most  precious  inheritance 
of  mankind.  To  maintain  these  people  and  these  ideals  in  North- 
western Ohio,  where  they  have  begun  to  give  way,  calls  for  a  definite 
religious  movement  which  will  bring  our  people  to  a  new  consecration, 
to  a  new  valuing  of  the  land  and  to  a  "marrying"  the  soil  such  as  they 
have  not  hitherto  undertaken. 

Fifth.  Co-operation  will  develop  leadership,  but  it  cannot  maintain 
itself  if  it  be  merely  economic.  American  country  people  will  not  stay 
in  the  country  for  dollars.  They  can  get  dollars  in  the  town.  They 
have  wits  enough  to  make  other  people  work  for  them  and  therein  is 
their  danger.  Therefore,  we  recommend  a  cultivation  of  social  life. 
In  all  these  country  communities  churches  and  schools  should  be  centers 
of  recreative  and  intellectual  life.  The  open  societies  for  the  exercise 
of  the  instinct  for  enjoyment,  for  social  intercourse  and  for  play 
should  be  cultivated  and  more  should  be  organized. 

The  holidays  of  the  year  should  be  celebrated  by  the  people  of  these 
counties  in  common.  Especially  the  great  religious  festivals,  such  as 
Christmas,  Easter,  Decoration  Day,  Labor  Day  and  Thanksgiving 
should  be  occasions  of  the  gathering  of  the  whole  community  at  the 
church  and  at  the  schoolhouse  for  common  celebration  of  the  deep- 
running  stream  of  history,  both  of  remembrance  and  of  hope.  The 
birthdays  of  the  great  heroes  of  our  history  should  also  be  celebrated 
in  common.  There  should  be  a  cultivation  of  music  also,  and  of 
dramatic  expression,  such  as  is  confined  to  very  few  churches.  Song 
has  extraordinary  social  value,  as  a  means  of  organizing  the  social 
instinct  of  the  people,  and  there  are  possibilities  in  the  dramatic  art, 
through  "home  talent  plays'"  and  other  means  which  country  people 
have  hardly  begun  to  use.  By  every  means  the  social  life  of  the  people 
should  be  organized  in  such  manner  as  to  make  the  country  community 
a  place  of  joy  for  the  young,  a  place  of  contented  labor  for  those  who 
work  on  the  farm,  a  satisfactory  home  for  the  women  and  a  preferred 
residence  for  elderly  people,  for  these  four  classes  are  essential  to 
the  perfection  and  the  continuance  of  the  country  church. 

Sixth.  The  country  institutions  in  Northwestern  Ohio,  the  home, 
the  church  and  the  school,  should  be  used  and  developed  in  such  way 
as  to  resist  the  influence  of  the  cities  and  to  cultivate  an  idealism  of  the 
country.  The  influence  of  urban  life,  if  unmodified  by  a  religious 
spirit,  is  a  malignant  power  in  the  country.    Around  these  large  towns 

69 


and  small  cities,  which  care  for  nothing  except  city  life,  churches  die, 
schools  languish  and  homes  are  abandoned,  renters  take  the  place  of 
owners  on  the  farms  and  values  of  farm  land  are  vitiated  by  irresist- 
ible philistine  i)owers.  There  is  need  of  the  cultivation  by  country 
jjcople  of  independent  institutions,  so  that  they  may  be  self-sufficient 
in  social,  economic,  educational  and  religious  respects.  Ministers  must 
be  called  from  tliese  cities  to  live  in  the  country,  houses  must  be  built 
for  them,  and  schools  consolidated,  in  order  to  retain  the  most  ambi- 
tious and  the  most  efficient  of  country  people  on  the  land.  Teachers 
should  be  provided  with  homes  beside  the  school,  and  co-operative 
institutions,  both  for  social  life  and  for  getting  a  better  income,  need 
to  be  organized  in  the  country,  in  order  that  the  influence  of  the  town 
may  be  resisted  and  in  order  that  the  country  population  may  maintain 
themselves  and  may  ])rospcr  in  every  way.  l^nless  this  is  done  the 
waning  of  the  countr\'  church  w  ill  continue  and  it  will  be  merely  the 
sign  of  the  decadence  of  a  splendid  population  ;  the  best  flower  and 
fruit  of  luiropean  and  Christian  culture. 

W  ill  the  towns  of  this  region  have  no  mercy  on  the  country?  Will 
they  never  realize  that  their  place  is  one  of  leadership?  Are  there  no 
leaders  in  Findlay.  in  Lima,  in  Defiance  and  other  of  the  leading  cities 
of  this  region,  who  will  see  that  the  greatness  of  these  towns  is  in  their 
leadershi])  of  the  country,  not  in  their  pollution  of  country  life?  The 
churches  of  these  towns  ought  to  have  farmers  in  their  membership. 
The  schools  of  these  towns  should  teach  agriculture.  They  should  be 
centres  of  constructive  intluences.  rather  than  destructive. 

Sci'cnth.  As  we  began,  so  it  is  evident  that  the  problem  of  North- 
western Ohio  is  a  profoundly  religious  one.  True,  it  is  educational 
also,  for  religion  and  education  in  facing  such  great  difficulties  are  a 
part  of  the  same  process.  The  country  people  must  be  converted,  and 
lie  who  shall  convert  theiu  must  give  his  life  with  them  to  the  great 
cause  of  building  a  commonwealth.  He  must  read  his  Old  Testament 
and  drink  deej)  of  the  sjnrit  of  Atoses  and  of  Joshua,  who  led  the 
])eople  into  the  "promised  land."  He  must  understand  the  Book  of 
Isaiah,  wliit-b  ])r()mised  that  "the  land  should  be  called  'lleidah,'  for 
as  a  young  man  marrieth  a  maiden,  so  thy  sons  shall  marry  thee." 
And  he  must  engage  in  his  task  with  the  spirit  of  the  Master,  Jesus 
Christ,  who  gave  himself  to  the  llebrew  ])eople,  whose  life  completed 
the  years  of  ins])ired  hislor\-  (hat  lia\e  made  us  call  Palestine  unto 
this  day  a  "holy  land." 


70 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Libraries 


1    1012  01235  2888 


aiitjisorp  Council 


W.  O.  Thompson,  Chairman, 

President,  Ohio  State  University 
Prasident,  Ohio  Church  Federation 
Columbus,  Ohio 

J.  O.  Ashenhurst,  Secretary, 
Committee  on  Rural  Churches.  United 
Presbyterian  Church 

George  F.  Bareis, 
Chairman,  Board  of  Trustees 
Heidelberg  College 

Edward  Byers,  A.M.,  Sc.D. 
School  of  Education,  Defiance  College 

I.  J.  CahiU 

Sec'y,  Ohio  Christian  Missionary  Society 

H.  J.  Christman,  President, 
Central  Theological  Seminary 

W.  G.  CHpi)inger,  President, 

Otterbein  University 

Charles  William  Dabney,  President, 

University  of  Cinciimati 

G.  Walter  Fiske,  Junior  Dean, 

Oberlin  Theological  Seminary 

L.  H.  Goddard,  Chief, 

Dept.  Cooperation,  Ohio  Experiment 

Station 

A.  B.  Graham,  Superintendent  of 
Agricultural  Extension,  Ohio  State  Univ. 

George  J.  Henderson, 

Supt.  Central  District,  American  S.  S.  Union 

Walter  H.  Houston, 

Supt.  Presbyterian  Home  Missions, 

Synod  of  Ohio 

C.  W.  Kurtz, 

Presiding  Elder,  United  Brethren  Church 

Frederick  C.  Landsittel, 

State  Normal  College,  Ohio  University 

Charles  Marston, 

Pastor,  Presbyterian  Church,  Millersburg, 

Ohio 

E.  A.  Miller, 
Oberlin  College 

J.  Knox  Montgomery,  President, 
Muskingum  College 

S.  K.  Mosiman,  President, 
Central  Mennonite  College 

i.  O.  Notestein, 
niversity  of  Wooster 

W.  W.  Mills, 

Board  of  Trustees,  Marietta  College 


H.  C.  Price,  Dean, 

College  of  Agriculture,  Ohio  State  Univ. 

O.  W.  Powers, 

Home  Mission  Sec'y,  Christian  Church 
President,  Ohio  State  Christian  Association 

C.  J.  Rose,  Secretary, 
Ohio  Baptist  Convention 

E.  S.  Rothrock, 

State  Superintendent,  Congregational 
Conference  of  Ohio 

B.  R.  RyaU, 

Secretary,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Ohio, 

County  Work  Dept. 

A.  C.  Shuman 

Pastor,  Reformed  Church,  TIffln,  Ohio 

J.  K.  Shellenberger, 

Sec'y   of   the   Brotherhood,    Disciples   of 

Christ 

Worthington  B.  Slutz, 

District  Supt.,  MethocUst  Episcopal 

Church 

i  Warren  Smith, 
irector,  U.  S.  Weather  Biu-eau 

George  F.  Smythe, 
Kenyon  College 

George  Stibitz, 

Central  Seminary 

N.  W.  Stroup, 

District  Supt.,  Methodist  Episcopal 

Church 

Omer  S.  Thomas, 

Secretary  of  Miami  Christian  Conference 

Samuel  Tyler, 

Chairman,  Social  Service  Commission 
Diocese  of  Southern  Ohio 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church 

Selby  H.  Vance, 
Lane  Seminary 

Paul  L.  Vogt, 

Professor  of  Sociology,  Miami  University 

Ralph  J.  White, 

Missionary  Superintendent  of  East  Ohio 

Synod  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 

G.  P.  Williams, 

Superintendent  of  Missions 
American  Sunday  School  Union 

Warren  H.  Wilson, 

Supt.,  Presbyterian  Department  of  Church 

and  Country  Life 


i 


